I am on the receiving end of some 20 year old chemicals being discarded by the school I currently work in. Not too much of note: a few grams of
copper sulfate, a similar amount of some other salts. But there is also a near full bottle of LiCl.
I checked my stocks at home: I don't currently have any lithium chloride. I have plenty of lithium metal and enough lithium carbonate. But it seemed
to me that this quantity of LiCl should be useful for a project of some kind. Any thoughts?Morgan - 12-9-2024 at 16:55
Crystals. Morphology of crystals vary according with whatever else is in solution. Sodium chloride crystallises in octahedrons rather than cubes in
the presence of urea, for example.Sir_Gawain - 12-9-2024 at 18:11
Electrolysis to lithium chlorate? That would make some brilliant red pyrotechnics!woelen - 12-9-2024 at 23:10
LiCl has unusual solution proerties. It also dissolves in several organic solvents, at least to some extent. If you dissolve it in methanol, then
burning that methanol gives amazing flame colors (methanol itself gives nearly invisible flames). Dissolving a tiny little bit of boric acid (H3BO3)
or boron trioxide (B2O3) in it as well can give beautiful flame colors, ranging from green, yellow to red.
Making LiClO3 from it is not easy. LiOH is soluble in water, but not as well as NaOH or KOH and it is even less soluble if a lot of other lithium salt
is dissolved. At the cathode, you'll get turbidity, especially, if also some carbon dioxide is dissolved in the water (Li2CO3 is even less soluble).
Another issue is that LiClO3 is amazingly hygroscopic, getting clean dry LiClO3 will be hard.
[Edited on 13-9-24 by woelen]j_sum1 - 12-9-2024 at 23:41
Thanks for suggestions.
Red flame tests is pretty much the only thing it gets used for at school. I know about the methanol version, but I hadn't realised just how soluble it
is in lower alcohols.
I don't think I will go for chlorates. For one, I don't have a suitable electrode. But I also have not really got into fireworks much. And my schedule
these days precludes beginning projects in a whole new field.
Making some red and green spirit lamps for Christmas is probably a good idea.
Growing some crystals could be interesting. Especially if I can do some big ones.
Anyway, it is at least a couple of weeks before I can get it. So plenty more thinking time.Sulaiman - 13-9-2024 at 04:20
...Making some red and green spirit lamps for Christmas is probably a good idea..
not such a good idea if
indoors.unionised - 13-9-2024 at 04:27
Calibration of hygrometers?
The sensible answer is probably "put it to one side until you actually think of a use for it". clearly_not_atara - 13-9-2024 at 07:03
LiCl/dimethylacetamide is a popular system for dissolving cellulose. Morgan - 14-9-2024 at 06:29
Interesting negative thermal expansion property with lithium
Conventional NTE Materials
In stark contrast to ordinary materials, some materials contract upon heating. Some examples are those of a silicon oxide family including
β-eucryptite (LiAlSiO4) and cordierite (Mg2Al2Si5O18), which were reported in the 1950s (Gillery and Bush, 1959). https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3...
These products listed all have a crystalline component, like milk glass or Corningware. As with Corningware, the crystals that form within the glass
have a negative CTE (they contract as they warm up, and expand as they cool down). The volume fraction of glass vs. crystals is adjusted until the
overall CTE is zero (the glass expands exactly as much as the crystals contract). Usually these crystals are based on lithium compounds.
The Temperature Shock Resistance (TSR) of ceramic glass characterizes the ability of a panel to withstand the temperature shock in which cold water
is poured onto a hot panel. As a result of the fact that the TSR of Pyroceram® is practically zero, the temperature shock caused by sudden cooling
with cold water leads to only minor stresses. The shock resistance is therefore normally limited only by the maximum operation temperature: Short Term
Usage: 760° C / 1,400° F. Long Term Usage: 680° C / 1, 256° F. These ceramic glasses have a Transparent-amber tint. https://www.woodstove-fireplaceglass.com/pages/pyroceram-gla...
[Edited on 14-9-2024 by Morgan]fx-991ex - 14-9-2024 at 08:22
Use it as dissicant or make battery.
Or extract the lithium metal from it? that will be kinda hard since it react with oxygen and water.
[Edited on 14-9-2024 by fx-991ex]Admagistr - 14-9-2024 at 08:40
Use it as dissicant or make battery.
Or extract the lithium metal from it? that will be kinda hard since it react with oxygen and water.
[Edited on 14-9-2024 by fx-991ex]
It is reported that lithium metal can be obtained from solution by electrolysis when anhydrous LiCl is dissolved in pyridine. But I haven't tried it
yet because I have a stockpile of metallic Li.
