gl92038
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indium chloride to indium metal
Hello, Can somebody please tell me what is the most convenient method of making metallic indium out of indium chloride. 
[Edited on 14-1-2012 by gl92038]
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Adas
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React it with Al and evaporate the AlCl3.
Rest In Pieces!
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blogfast25
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Electrolysis of a eutectic mixture of anhydrous InCl<sub>3</sub> and other halides like NaCl, KCl or CaCl2 should be a possibility. The
metal should sink to the bottom of the electrolysis cell, neatly protected from air.
But obtaining anhydrous indium trichloride will be a bit of a challenge in itself. Calcining a mixture of the hydrate and NH4Cl would probably yield
the anh. salt.
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gl92038
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Can't I make anhydrous trichloride using thionyl chloride?
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blogfast25
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AlCl3 has a low heat of formation (it's mainly a covalent compound) but its low boiling point would cause it to boil off, thus shifting the
equilibrium of the reaction to the right. In has a very high BP, so that fits too.
Use an excess anh. InCl3: then heat the finished mixure to above the MP of the remaining InCl3, to avoid contamination of the In metal with Al.
[Edited on 14-1-2012 by blogfast25]
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blogfast25
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Probably. I haven't got any though so I wouldn't be trying that myself.
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gl92038
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Thank you
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unionised
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My word, you all seem to be trying to do things the hard way.
Dissolve it in water.
Add sodium carbonate to ppt the In as carbonate/ hydrated oxide/ whatever.
Decant off the NaCl soln and wash the solid.
Dissolve in sulphamic acid solution. (Other non-oxidisable acids would probably work too)
Electroplate with a carbon anode and a stainless steel cathode.
You could electrolyse it directly, but the Cl2 is a nuisance.
If you want a nice shiny indium layer you probably need something more complicated like this
http://www.indium.com/products/indiumcompounds.php#indiumsul...
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Mixell
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I had an indium sulfate solution, to that I've added some NaCl and aluminium to plate out the indium (the NaCl is for speeding the reaction up). After
that I let the indium simmer in NaOH solution to dissolve any remaining aluminium. Then I washed it a few times with water and let it simmer for a
very short time in dilute HCl, after that I have washed it with water again.
I also washed it with acetone to speed up the drying, but that's pretty much optional. The yield was about 90-95%.
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unionised
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I think hot charcoal would reduce In2O3. In doesn't form any carbides and so you don't need to worry about alloying as you would with Al as the
reductant.
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gl92038
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Thank you all for your help.
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blogfast25
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Unionised: I thought, w/o knowing much about indium, that the metal was more reacitve than that,
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