What is the solubility of nitrous oxide ( N2O )
in hydrogen peroxide ( H2O2 )
or does this decompose.
I have Googled up and down the world wide web
and consulted the obvious reference sources , no leads.
I know 2 NO2 will dissolve in H2O2 to yield 2 HNO3
.ScienceSquirrel - 8-9-2010 at 06:33
N20 is pretty inert at room temperature.
When you heat it, it breaks down to nitrogen and oxygen, the resulting mixture is ca 30% oxygen so will suport higher fuel oxidiser mixtures than air.
Thus it is used for temporary power boosting for aircraft or cars or to gain higher horsepower for short runs eg when hot rodding.
If a way was found of making it a lot more active at room temperature through say metal complex catalysis it would be a big pat on the back for the
researcher.
It is produced as a byproduct in the manufacture of nylon 6 and the reaction;
N20 + A -> AO + N2
would have most industrial chemists fizzing at the bunghole!
A good description of its properties can be found here;
[Edited on 8-9-2010 by ScienceSquirrel]franklyn - 8-9-2010 at 07:31
Thanks but none of that refers to solubilities.
It has some appreciable solubility in water , data exists
on that in the International Critical tables page 185 I believe
but I can find no data regarding H2O2 - which is my question.
.ScienceSquirrel - 8-9-2010 at 07:40
It will dissolve in dilute hydrogen peroxide solutions about as much as in water as they are mostly water.
I would expect the solubility in concentrated solutions to be roughly similar to water.
Here is some details on solubility;
It is not going to react with the hydrogen peroxide at all.Anders2 - 17-9-2010 at 15:44
N2O is fairly inert except at combustion temperatures, it is not going to be oxidized. N2O has very low solubility in water, so it is not going to be
much more soluble in hydrogen peroxide. N2O does not behave like an acid anhydride, despite its forming when HON=NOH is dehydrated, the reaction is
not reversible.AJKOER - 4-8-2014 at 09:25
I have been researching N2O and it is not particularly inert to ESD (electro static discharge) or under photolysis or in contact with singlet oxygen
(denoted here as simply O2*). In fact, a monopropellant consisting of Ethanol infused with N2O is a rocket fuel ignited by a spark plug.
"Reactive nitrogen species are formed from N2O via the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with the singlet D oxygen atom to form two molecules of nitric
acid.
N2O + O(1D) --> 2 NO
This reaction transfers nitrogen from the inert species, N2O, into the reactive species, NO.
Another way that N2O is lost is via photolysis. An energetic UV photon is able to dissociate N2O into molecular nitrogen, N2, and the singlet D oxygen
atom.
"Hydroxyl radicals are also produced during UV-light dissociation of H2O2 (suggested in 1879)"
Or,
H2O2 → •HO + •HO
Now, while the following radical formation reaction is possible, resulting in the restoration of the H2O2:
•HO + •HO → H2O2
in the presence of O2, NO2,..., I would argue that the likelihood of the above reaction is reduced (see summary chart at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2012/cs/c2cs35... ) with the consumption of any formed hydroxyl radicals via other paths. Note, both
O2 and NO (and with O2, NO2), as I detailed previously, are produced in the photolysis of N2O.
Hence, with time and light exposure, I would not be surprised if N2O accelerated the decomposition of H2O2.
[Edited on 5-8-2014 by AJKOER]unionised - 9-8-2014 at 06:23
You seem not to have answered the question.
What colour is the mixture?
This reaction
H2O2 → •HO + •HO
only happens with UV whose wavelength is shorter than about 203 nm
Most glass bottles would absorb any UV at those wavelengths.
And the photolysis of N2O needs hard UV too.
The photochemistry you are talking about will not happen with sunlight because essentially all the light with a short enough wavelength to create the
radicals has already been absorbed by oxygen and ozone in the atmosphere.
AJKOER - 10-8-2014 at 13:51
Here is a paper "Hydrogen Peroxide Absorption at Long Wavelengths: Implications for HOx Cycling", to quote:
"Photolysis rate constants calculated using these measurements at wavelengths longer than 350 nm as well as published cross sections at wavelengths
shorter than 350 nm indicate that absorbance at longer wavelengths can account for up to 25% of H2O2 photolysis at high solar zenith angles. Loss of
H2O2 via photolysis may be competitive with reactions with hydroxyl radicals and dry deposition in the lower atmosphere; these processes affect HOx
cycling very differently. "
