CobaltChloride
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Uses of kitty litter in the amateur lab
I've heard some people praise kitty litter as being useful for multiple reasons. What do you think are its most important uses in the home lab?
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LearnedAmateur
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Relatively inert desiccant is the use that screams out, probably best in a dessicator but if you don’t need stringent conditions you could probably
chuck some in a vessel to scavenge water or other adsorbents, I mean that’s why it’s used in cat litter as well as odour control. If you crush it
up, you can use it for rough chromatography, not for precision analysis of course but you should be able to use it to separate stuff to reasonable
purity.
Edit: just to clarify I’m talking about the crystal litter, pretty much just silica with some crystals impregnated with cobalt chloride indicator.
[Edited on 21-3-2018 by LearnedAmateur]
In chemistry, sometimes the solution is the problem.
It’s been a while, but I’m not dead! Updated 7/1/2020. Shout out to Aga, we got along well.
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Foeskes
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It's pretty good for preventing bumping when distilling water. It will contaminated anything in the boiling flask though
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j_sum1
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Well there are all kinds of kitty litter.
I bought a bag once because it was the most convenient source of bentonite clay.
The other usable one around here is silica gel -- some with cobalt chloride infused "wetness indicator crystals". No idea of the purity or quality.
And then there are plenty made from assorted recycled materials including newspaper. I think this is a great idea for kitty litter but of no use in
the lab.
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phlogiston
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- To clean up liquid spills.
The clay-based types should be pretty inert to most solvents, acids and alkali's.
- For purification. I've used it for instance to remove a dye from candle wax. Works pretty well.
[Edited on 21-3-2018 by phlogiston]
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Ubya
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i bought a bag of silica gel kitty litter (free of any indicator) to use as a dessicant or boiling stones, i still have to test it's "humidity
absorption" capabilities, but as boiling stones they work, i then bought 5kg of bentonite clay kitty litter as a spill absorber, in case a flask full
of acid or solvent would crack or rupture i could immediatly dump clay on it and not have my workbench soaked with liquid
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DavidJR
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Just be careful which type you use for your nuclear waste  https://www.livescience.com/45602-did-kitty-litter-cause-a-r...
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JJay
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I've used various brands as sources of silica gel, Fuller's earth, and bentonite clay. I'd rather just get the unadulterated substances from a bulk
supplier, but kitty litter can be a convenient source.
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NEMO-Chemistry
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Cheap clay kitty litter is second to none for spills! I had a huge amount of old batteries i forgot about in large sack. they leaked..... I put a
couple of KG of it down and swept it up, nothing was left on the floor. Its about £2-£3 for 10KG so worth having around.
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CobaltChloride
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It's really good to hear it has so many uses. I'm especially happy with its ability to deal with spills as that's one of the main fears I have about
storing dangerous chemicals in the house.
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