Upsilon
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I got sent sand.
So today I received what was supposed to be 2 pounds of 99% silicon dioxide. I paid $15 for it. But it was literally just sand. It has a tan color to
it, and even has those little pieces of black particulate in it that you always see in common sand.
And if that wasn't enough, it came only single-bagged with a hole in it. Grains are all over the place in the box.
Be careful with eBay everyone.
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aga
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Well, i guess it's arguable whether it's 99% or not.
If i were the Seller, here's a kind of answer if you were to complain about it being just beach sand and having a hole in the bag:-
"Congratulations on confirming receipt of your Eco-Friendly 100% Natural Silicon Dioxide !
We added in a few tab ends and some calcium carbonate as Your Free Gift !
Well done on finding out how to work the new EZ-Dispenser<sup>TM</sup> system."
[Edited on 19-9-2015 by aga]
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macckone
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It would probably test as 99%. It does not take much to give silica and alumina a distinct color.
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Steam
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Macckone is right, it would probably pass as 99% silicon dioxide. Even with the small flakes of black particulate matter in it. I doubt they
contribute more than 1% of the total mass of the product. What are you using it for?
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aga
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The new Upsilon Beach Club holiday park, obviously.
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unionised
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What were you expecting?
Anyway, it's not that difficult to boost the purity if you really need to.
Put a strong magnet in a plastic zip-lock type bag in a bigger bag with the sand and shake the whole lot .
Any magnetic particles will stick to the magnet and you can remove them easily. (putting the magnet in a bag makes it a lot easier to get the stuff
off the magnet).
You can also try dissolving the sand in molten sodium carbonate then letting the waterglass cool down and dissolving it in water.
You can filter off the iron and a lot of other impurities- then reprecipitate SiO2 by the addition of acid. A good acid wash of the silica gel will
remove a lot of any aluminium present.
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careysub
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I am guessing that you ordered the "2lbs 99% silicon dioxide. 60+mesh flux. Smelt/refine-gold, silver, and platinum!" from refiningsupply2010.
Looking at the listing - the picture looks like sand, and the description says:
"2 lb bag of 99.4% pure silica dioxide SiO2. Also known as silicon sand, silica, quartz, and various other names." indicating that yes, it is a type
of sand. 60 mesh is 0.25mm which is indeed the size of sand (0.0625 mm to 2 mm, is the standard range geologists use).
It is most likely imminently suitable for the purpose for which it is sold - smelting flux.
So it seems to me the product was properly represented.
As unionised says: what were your expectations for this product?
Another reason why this is not a deceptive listing - there are many types of sand. Calcium carbonate sand is commonly sold for various purposes for
example, and many sands have mixed composition.
What kind of silicon dioxide would you like?
Extremely fine, extremely pure silica is available as "fumed silica"
Pottery suppliers (Seattle Pottery, Aardvark Clay, US Pigment, etc.) are good places to shop for other grades of silica. You can get 325 mesh (which
is very fine, flour-like). Microcrystalline IMSIL silica can be had there as well.
Although pottery chemicals are problematic in purity in general, they do need to be pure enough for their intended purpose - producing good-looking
ceramics. Thus impurities that might cause discoloration must be carefully excluded. So the silicas from pottery suppliers is usually pretty darn
white.
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aga
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He got silicon dioxide.
The interesting bit is what will he Do with it ...
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Upsilon
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I know that "sand" is largely composed of silicon dioxide. However, there is a difference between pure silicon dioxide and some random sand that you
pick up on the beach, and it's pretty easy to tell. Something advertised as "99% silicon dioxide" should at least not have tons of noticeable
particles of some other material in it.
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aga
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Silicon Dioxide isn't it ?
How much did you pay, and for what quantity ?
Edit:
What you will to do with it is far more interesting than the fact that you bought some sand.
I ask about the price as i'd like to undercut them and sell it myself, seeing as people obviously buy it ...
[Edited on 19-9-2015 by aga]
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phlogiston
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Hey, if it is any consolation, that's actually a great price!
Sigma-Aldric asks Eur 123,05 ($140) for only 100 grams of 'clean sand #4'
[Edited on 20-9-2015 by phlogiston]
-----
"If a rocket goes up, who cares where it comes down, that's not my concern said Wernher von Braun" - Tom Lehrer |
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zed
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Well, as PT Barnum used to say: "This way to the Egress!"
http://www.ptbarnum.org/egress.html
[Edited on 19-9-2015 by zed]
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WGTR
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I'm not so surprised over the fact that 60 mesh silica turns out to be sand, but rather that it was so expensive. Even at my local pottery store, 90
mesh silica is, well, fine sand, but it's only $1.50 in 1 lb. quantities. That price drops to $0.20 in 500 lb. quantities. It isn't until you get to
the finer mesh sizes that the silica is actually pure material, but that's even cheaper than the sand, interestingly enough.
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Morgan
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There's lots of silicon dioxide where I live. It sqeaks when you walk on it, kind of a fine sand.
http://www.adventurouskate.com/pensacola-beach-the-best-in-a...
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IrC
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The OP needs to tell the ebay seller what a son of a beach he is.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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BromicAcid
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If you need good silicon dioxide for experiments look for fumed silica for an excellent particle size.
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NedsHead
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whatever aga's charging I can beat it by 10%
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IrC
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Not if you consider the cost of shipping from the AU VS shipping from Aga-land.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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NedsHead
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for a lesser fee I can provide the skills to acquire your own, teach a man to fish and all that
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aga
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Just get some Sand.
Stick in a pot, add HCl, mix.
Wash to clear out any chlorides formed.
Then heat it like crazy to knacker up any organics in there.
Sieve it if you want more uniform particle sizes.
Bash it up and sieve it again if you want more of the finer stuff.
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Bert
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Can you figure out how to pound that sand. We had a saying about people who couldn't, back when I worked at the foundry.
If they COULD figure that part out, but we still did not like them... We had a special suggestion on where the sand should be pounded, too!
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1. Attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it
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2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. Mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.
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aga
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Lump hammer and a slab of steel.
Two slabs of steel, sand inbetween, rotate.
Pestle & mortar.
Big rock & larger flat rock.
Jet mill 
[Edited on 20-9-2015 by aga]
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macckone
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interesting tidbit. Glass takes on a distinctive color at .1% iron content. Other colorants may be even lower.
99% silica sand is not very pure from a color perspective. As others have stated the purification is tedious.
First remove magnetic materials with a magnet.
Commercially they use specific gravity separation which is much more cost effective.
I would suggest nitric acid rather than hydrochloric acid as hydrochloric can form insoluble chlorides.
If you need really pure silica you would be better off buying sodium silicate and then precipitating it with acid.
Your final product purity will depend on the sodium silicate purity which is usually greater than 99.9% and your
acid purity which you can control but making your own hydrochloric acid solution with distilled water and
hydrogen chloride gas.
Silica gel beads are usually really high purity and readily available.
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Morgan
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I came across this about the sand where I live. According to this article the Florida State Geological Society reported that it's 99.7% pure silica
quartz. Also I guess you have to boil it now to make it chirp.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19950118...
Where Did Florida Beach Sand Come From?
"Much of the sand on Florida beaches is made up of quartz crystals produced by the weathering of continental land masses like the Appalachian
mountains. The quartz is washed down America's great rivers into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico where it is carried onto the beaches by water
currents and waves."
http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/articles/2008/june/919-bat...
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