I have about 20-30kg of mixture of lead oxide(30-40%, lead dioxide(20-30%), lead sulfate(20-30%) and elemental lead(0-10%). They are all mixed up in a
single pot of chunky powder. I was in need of elemental lead and managed to finally get some, so this salts mess was left over, but I wouldn't mind
throwing them away after all the trouble getting them.
What would be the easiest way to recover these, most likely in elemental form? Or are there some niche uses for lead salts? Lead acetate is no-go,
since I've got no anhydride or peroxide to make some.SM2 - 5-7-2013 at 06:58
Wonder how it could be polluting if it came from Earth in first place. Of course, it's chemically changed, therefore somewhat artificial/man-made.
Perhaps a remediation is to put it back from near where it came.
Find a bacteria that loves it. Yum yum yum, those lead paint chips just so tasty, no wonder there bad for you. But on serious note I hear a lead
acetate actually IS sweet. This coming from an older inorganic book.Hexavalent - 5-7-2013 at 07:13
I'd add the whole lot to some nitric acid, heat the mixture to dissolve everything, and then precipitate the lead ions as lead carbonate, which can be
filtered off and purified by rinsing multiple times with water. Lead carbonate is a nice starting material for preparing many lead salts and can be
thermally decomposed to give purer lead (II) oxide, if you wanted.
If you really wanted lead metal, then I'd add a fair amount of magnesium to the lead nitrate solution, and filter off the precipitated lead, which is
conveniently in a fine powder (more dangerous, but more useful). Washing quickly in non-oxidizing acids should remove small amounts of magnesium that
may remain, if you added too much.
SM2, I believe "lead acetate" was once called "sugar of lead" because of its sweet taste, and may have been used as a sugar substitute many moons ago
as sugar was significantly more expensive.
[Edited on 5-7-2013 by Hexavalent]adamsium - 5-7-2013 at 07:35
20 - 30 kg of starting material is going to require quite a lot of reagents to process. Lead is (very) cheap; so, unless you really want to do it,
there's probably little point. You could certainly do something like Hexavalent says, but it's likely going to cost much more than it's really worth,
not to mention that large quantities of soluble lead salts are not exactly good for you and make for more of a disposal issue should you be unable to
complete the project.
SM2 - do you ever post anything worthwhile? Really?Hexavalent - 5-7-2013 at 08:48
Gah, I missed that. You could process 50 g of the material for a learning exercise, but adamsium is right: if you want a reasonable amount of lead,
buy it.
