Nate - 2-3-2018 at 16:15
Hello! So for a project, I needed to make sodium peroxide. The route I am currently taking is to decompose sodium ascorbate to sodium oxide and other
side products. When I went to do it I put about 20-50g of sodium ascorbate in a beaker and put it on a hotplate and put it to about 300 C(My hotplate
has knob and not a digital one so it's somewhat hard to tell). But when I let it sit there for about 5 minutes I was left with a completely black
mixture and the smell of burning marshmallows. Could someone please tell me what I did wrong? I'm new to chemistry in general and not that
knowledgeable. Any help is appreciated!
Metacelsus - 3-3-2018 at 08:59
I seriously doubt any sodium oxide will be formed from sodium ascorbate decomposition. It will most likely be present as sodium carbonate. Overall, I
do not think this is a viable route to prepare sodium peroxide. Instead, I would take a look here: http://www.sciencemadness.org/smwiki/index.php/Sodium_peroxi...
Nate - 3-3-2018 at 11:08
Alright thanks for the response, it's a shame this won't work since it was the easiest method for me.