I read on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide#Decomposition) that nearly any Transition Metal will catalyze the decomposition of Hydrogen
Peroxide. Because I do not have Manganese Dioxide or Silver, will Iron powder work as well as Manganese Dioxide?bereal511 - 21-5-2007 at 20:43
Iron will work, but not at the same rate as manganese dioxide.The_Davster - 21-5-2007 at 20:47
Which really could be good depending on what you want to do with the oxygen produced. MnO2 can go really fast with 35% peroxide.Mumbles - 22-5-2007 at 13:15
I seem to remember I2 or KI working as well. I'm sure you could find iron oxide around somewhere. It works better in my experience than iron powder
itself. Although the iron powder will soon be rust in a H2O2 soln. Rust that is probably on the underside of every car more than 4 years old, old
swing set, mailbox, steel wool left in salt soln for a few days.
Judging from the type of question, I have a feeling he'd be working more in the 3-5% concentration range.Vexing - 22-5-2007 at 13:21
Yep... 3% from the local drug store, I haven't found any higher concentrations. Well, I ended up trying the Iron powder+H2O2 mixture and left it
overnight. The next day it was rust ( And I was wondering why I hadn't thought of that). I'm going to keep on doing that until I get complete rust.
How fast does iron oxide work?chemkid - 22-5-2007 at 17:55
Theese are insturctions for the carbon rods. But the black goo as it is described is manganese dioxide. Just a note the casing is zinc.
Good luckOzone - 22-5-2007 at 19:20
Just hit KMNO4 with some sort of reductant and presto, MNO2 (Kind of a waste of good KMNO4, though!).
Fe is oxidized, so acts at least for a while, quite unlike a catalyst. Molybdate works very well and is used as the catalyst of choice in the
iodometric titration used to determine H2O2.
Alternatively, and on-the-cheap, NaOCl (5%, common household bleach) will actually oxidize your peroxide to yield, quantitatively, O2 and NaCl.
takecare, it's frisky,
O3phj - 23-5-2007 at 02:25
KMnO4 can be used to decompose H2O2 as well as MnO2.
More catalysts for this decomposition are e.g. iodide (which will be oxidized to iodine as well) PbO2, Fe(3+) (which can also be achieved by oxidizing
metallic iron with hydrogen peroxide).Vexing - 24-5-2007 at 14:00
I don't have KMnO4. Sears doesn't seem to carry it here in Canada. I guess I'll try Fe(3+) when I have time, I'm in the middle of exams. MnO2 sounds
a little harder, but I'll give that a try too. Thanks everyone.16MillionEyes - 25-5-2007 at 06:07
Interestingly I tried using magnesium and didn't seem to do anything. Perhaps I didn't leave it enough time but it certaintly didn't do anything. I
haven't tried any transition metals though. I think I'll get busy with the pennies.Vexing - 25-5-2007 at 13:11
I just tried iron powder again, with a little iron oxide mixed in and I put alot of H2O2. I fizzed quite nicely, almost as well as MnO2.16MillionEyes - 26-5-2007 at 07:04
Where are you getting iron oxide powder from? Do you just scrape it off old iron materials?Vexing - 26-5-2007 at 11:43
Nope, the oxide is from the previous time I tried it. 16MillionEyes - 28-5-2007 at 18:38
But how did you get it in the first place?phj - 29-5-2007 at 07:44
Vexing, I suggest that you add a little acid (HCl) when working with iron powder.
This will prevent the formation of poorly soluble iron oxides, but keeps your Fe(III) in solution, where it will be more effective in
decompositioning H2O2.
But you can dissolve your Fe powder in your acid and add this solution tot H2O2 as well.
[bewerken aan 29-5-2007 door phj]Vexing - 30-5-2007 at 13:29
@__________- the oxide or the iron powder? the powder from an old, old magnetism set, but you can get some at www.e-sci.com. I got the oxide from the time I tried this with not as much H2O2.
Hmm... I don't have any HCL right now, I'll be getting some soon though. Does anyone know of any metals that will decompose H2O2 faster than iron?16MillionEyes - 31-5-2007 at 07:14
I see. Just scraping off. It's a good idea, it's just that it's hard to obtain clean iron oxide that way.scientistfromdarkness - 27-7-2007 at 00:12
Brauer gives some methods of oxygen preparation from H2O2 on pages 335 and 336. For decomposition of hydrogen peroxyde he reccomends Ni foil covered
with Pt.16MillionEyes - 31-7-2007 at 18:15
Quote:
Originally posted by Mumbles
I seem to remember I2 or KI working as well.
The KI certainly works well. Problem would be where to get it OTC?
