Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Affordable chemicals for university students?

fff - 23-11-2019 at 17:32

What suppliers sell chemicals for affordable prices? I'm just a university student and can't afford expensive chemicals.

j_sum1 - 23-11-2019 at 18:14

There are numerous threads on otc chemicals (Over The Counter), including some currenty active threads. So that would be my first start. Have a search and a read.
But if you are after chemical suppliers that are local to you, that is a bit more difficult to answer. I gather that supplies in the UK have tightened up a whole lot in recent years. And a lot will depend on what chemicals you are after.

G-Coupled - 23-11-2019 at 18:34

I'd start with the 'bay.

draculic acid69 - 23-11-2019 at 22:24

Definitely.ebay or Amazon are the first place to look.if u want industrial stuff or hard to find stuff Alibaba is the place to look.alibaba isn't cheap though.

B(a)P - 24-11-2019 at 02:09

What specifically are you looking for?

Lion850 - 24-11-2019 at 02:26

I do not know if this information is applicable for the UK but in Australia I found good value at:
- Pottery suppliers: they supply a surprising big range of chemicals, even some rare earth oxides for example.
- Suppliers of swimming pool water maintenance products (hydrochloric acid, sodium carbonate, calcium chloride, chlorines, many more)
- Garden centers (lots of different sulphates but also sulphur)
- Hardware shops / paint stores (solvents, alcohols, etc)
- Suppliers of bulk chemicals for photography purposes.
Note that above may not always be "LR" or even "TG" quality but good enough for my purposes.
Google is definitely your friend in this case.

rockyit98 - 24-11-2019 at 07:17

other than fuel and water H2SO4 is most consumed chemical.it can be cheap to buy in bulk.sometime you need verification or identification maybe you can use your university student states .check with local law first.check your local labs and suppliers get the lay of the land first. some fertilizer can be a good source.

fff - 24-11-2019 at 09:09

I tried ebay, looked for ethanol, isopropanol and diethyl ether, but their prices look a bit too expensive. Any cheaper ones?
I also want amorphous phosphorus and selenium. I can't find the former in ebay for anything more than 10g and the latter is around £25/100g. Where can I get 250g of amorphous phosphorus? Is the price for selenium reasonable?

G-Coupled - 24-11-2019 at 09:13

What do you consider expensive for those items ((m)ethanol/isopropanol etc.)?

[Edited on 24-11-2019 by G-Coupled]

fff - 24-11-2019 at 12:14

I just revisited ebay to look for the above items as the last time I look for them is last month. These are the cheapest I can find as of now:
£5.38 for 1L 99.9% isopropanol
£25.99 for 250ml diethyl ether
£23.34 for 100g selenium beads
The prices weren't that cheap at that time if I remember correctly.
However, now I can't find 99% food grade ethanol. This is the best I can find: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Culpitt-Dipping-Solution-Cake-Dec...
The picture says it's 18% but description says it's 96%. Which should I trust?
What about amorphous phosphorus? Where can I get it?
I've never bought these before so I want to be sure I get the one with the most reasonable price.

[Edited on 24-11-2019 by fff]

Deathunter88 - 24-11-2019 at 13:15

Quote: Originally posted by fff  
I just revisited ebay to look for the above items as the last time I look for them is last month. These are the cheapest I can find as of now:
£5.38 for 1L 99.9% isopropanol
£25.99 for 250ml diethyl ether
£23.34 for 100g selenium beads
The prices weren't that cheap at that time if I remember correctly.
However, now I can't find 99% food grade ethanol. This is the best I can find: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Culpitt-Dipping-Solution-Cake-Dec...
The picture says it's 18% but description says it's 96%. Which should I trust?
What about amorphous phosphorus? Where can I get it?
I've never bought these before so I want to be sure I get the one with the most reasonable price.

[Edited on 24-11-2019 by fff]


Would really help if you stated the intended purpose of what you're doing.

monolithic - 24-11-2019 at 14:09

Quote: Originally posted by fff  
I tried ebay, looked for ethanol, isopropanol and diethyl ether, but their prices look a bit too expensive. Any cheaper ones?
I also want amorphous phosphorus and selenium. I can't find the former in ebay for anything more than 10g and the latter is around £25/100g. Where can I get 250g of amorphous phosphorus? Is the price for selenium reasonable?


Ethanol: liquor store, any unflavored vodka (40% v/v) or pure grain alcohol (75-95% v/v)
Isopropyl alcohol: 70% and 91% in pharmacies, 99% sold online as electronics cleaners
Diethyl ether: distill from starter fluid, only if you know what you're doing

PirateDocBrown - 24-11-2019 at 17:03

Phosphorus is a watched chemical, due to its use in drug manufacture. It is much harder to find than it once was.

25 pounds for 100 g Se is reasonable.

We have in the States "Kleen Strip Green" denatured alcohol. Distilled off NaOH after reflux, and collected over dried MgSO4, it can be made remarkably pure, for lab use. I'm told 99% ethanol, with only bitrex added is available OTC in other countries.

Sulaiman - 24-11-2019 at 17:11

Although you may be able to find 93% to 95% H2SO4 in hardware shops as drain unblocker,
in UK sulphuric acid is limited to 15% by EPP regulations
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/licensing-for-hom...

Amorphous (red) phosphorous is not restricted but 250g is quite a lot for typical amateur use.

Ethanol is easy to ferment and distill - but the distillation part is legally questionable.

Diethyl ether is legal, you can even import it,
distillation is OK if you have the required equipment, environment and safety preparations.

Isopropyl alchohol is available via eBay

GBP25 for 100g 99.999% Se is not cheap,
but if you need it that's about the best you'll find I think.

Could you not scale down your requirements ?
For learning purposes 2.5g is as good as 25g is as good as 250g,
and your waste handling will be proportionately reduced.

fff - 29-11-2019 at 13:54

Where can I find amorphous P then?
And cheaper Se?

B(a)P - 30-11-2019 at 03:33

Try agricultural products for Se. In many regions a dose of Se is given to lambs in their first year of life. You can buy the pellets quite cheap, although I have no idea how you would isolated the se.

fff - 30-11-2019 at 05:54

I want Se element, not compounds like those in dietary supplements.