maxpayne
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Storing Zinc metal powder - Safety
I live in an area between two rivers and there is one big reservoir for the local dam so air is mostly very humid. I have about 1 pound zinc powder
5000 mesh and having a safe storage concerns.
What are my best options to store this zinc powder safely? Is tightly closed plastic bottle enough to protect it from moisture and the reaction with
it?
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Pyro
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the reaction with water is undesirable but absolutely harmless. i got my zinc from a paint company (Lippens) and it came in a 500ml can, you just pop
off the lid with a screwdriver. its moisture proof, and will resist fire pretty well.
fire would be your biggest risk.
and yes a plastic bottle should be fine, but something with a wide mouth is better as zinc powder doesn't pour very well.
you can get empty paint cans from your local art store, paint supplier,...
ope that helped,
Alex
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zoombafu
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Store it in a sealed container in a cool and dry well ventilated area away from any sources of ignition as well as any sources of water. I have a
small amount (not that mesh size though) and I have it in the bottle it came in, and then I put that bottle in a small Tupperware container.
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maxpayne
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I see. I was concerned about multiple openings and moisture soping from air and that I need to add some drying agents in the bottle. I think the
bottle cap holds such an agent under the bottom cover.
Thanks for your answers!
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maxpayne
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Can anybody tell what was found in this study:
Studies in the spontaneous oxidation of zinc and the nature of “pyrophoric” zinc
I don't have an access to this, and will not beg for free article, but I'm interested in the results and experimentation in this study.
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BromicAcid
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If your main concern is purity, store it in a paint can as pyro suggested or wide mouth poly bottle and have it double bagged inside the can. When
you need it remove the bags, use what you need and then seal with the air squeezed out of the bags, only open the bags as much as you need. Much
better would be to have nitrogen flushing into the bags when you're pulling reagent from the bags but few people on this forum have a dedicated
nitrogen cylinder. If you did though plastic bags make it easy to get a few fill/purge cycles.
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maxpayne
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Yes, I do not know if there is a stabilizer added to this dust. This air squeezing technique seems pretty effective and safe, I will use it, rather
than can.
I do not know why I'm so scared about this zinc going off, but somehow I would rather climb the long ladder to get sulphuric acid and even do the
bungee, than handle the zinc dust. But I simply want to be safe, protect others and myself from danger.
Is there anything more that I need to know when handling this stuff, what spoon can I use; is Inox OK, or should I use plastic? What about this
electrostatic charges, and what to do with filtered zinc from water solutions, how to make sure it does not react further when stored?
And one more, is it safer for me to cut this half a kilos to smaller pieces and store it in that way?
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kristofvagyok
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Zinc powder from Merck comes in a metal container sealed from air with a "tape" and inside this there is a plastic bag containing the metal Zn
powder...
The disadvantage: after 2-5 years usually a hammer is the best to get the Zn powder out from the plastic bag, because it stucks in it as a rock.
Use some silica next to, fill the container with argon and seal the mouth with some parafilm.
I have a blog where I post my pictures from my work: http://labphoto.tumblr.com/
-Pictures from chemistry, check it out(:
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