> chemistry > métaux-alcalins > making-cesium-from-cscl > making-cesium-and-distilling-it-in-my-homemade-still-advanced-tinkering

Making cesium and distilling it in my homemade still

Advanced Tinkering - 2022-03-12

Do you have any questions or suggestions? I would like to hear them in the comments! 

If you want, you can join my patreon to help me working on my projects. All posts will be public, so you can participate without paying. 
https://www.patreon.com/AdvancedTinkering

If you want to see how i made he still, watch my video about it: https://youtu.be/mQ-T5NtHeJw

My other videos about cesium: 
https://youtu.be/HU7cKspMePA
https://youtu.be/yI5xzeYj8qM

Do not try to recreate what you see in the video. This video is not meant as an instruction! Cesium is a highly reactive element and is dangerous to handle. The author of this video shall not be held responsible for injuries or any sort of damage resulting from the recreation of this content. 

Music:
'Beautiful Oblivion' - Scott Buckley https://youtu.be/e3KpJ5k1Htg

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-09-14

If you want to see where this journey ended watch this video of the largest vial of cesium ever shown on video: https://youtu.be/XpCU0SyYGAA

I improved my technique dramatically and was able to get a perfect vial without cesium sticking to the glass.

@Chyrosran22 - 2022-03-13

As much as I don't want anyone making this in my lab, this does look exceptionally cool xD .

@oak_meadow9533 - 2023-10-30

Amazing and beautiful! You have great talent… The Cesium Whisperer!😊

@Inignot12 - 2022-03-20

Man watching that cesium is hypnotic

@naydacolunga4992 - 2022-07-17

Nilered should do this

@EliasExperiments - 2022-03-13

Wow that was a really beatiful video! Thank you for sharing all the things you have learned with this synthesis! As far as I know using 1.5 equivalents of Li can improve the yield quite a bit.

@frankhaese_DrHaeseGroup - 2022-03-19

Well done and exciting demonstration. It is funny to read the comments of the other chemistry youtuber´s who are clearly impressed and inspired of your excellent work.

@zaijal1572 - 2022-03-14

That 9:50-12:50 part was beautiful to watch

@vortextube - 2023-02-05

Those joints are pretty cool.

@lllllll396 - 2022-03-15

Outstanding video, great cinematography! TY!

@mikeconnery4652 - 2024-01-19

Such a cool experiment.

@Skunkhunt_42 - 2022-03-19

Lovely! Thanks for doing and sharing! Soo beautiful

@yourfuneral - 2022-09-21

uhhh, Stern Gerlach, looking forward to it!
+1 sub!

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-09-22

I appreciate it! There will be a video about the Stern-Gerlach-Experiment with a lot of new stuff :)

@LFTRnow - 2022-10-02

An idea that might be worth a try is to cool the spout. That should stop it from overheating and cracking the glass. A lot of ideas come to mind. Simplest would probably be to attach aluminum fins (ie an electronic heatsink) and blow air on it. Better would probably be to wrap the output in a coil which you pump cool water through. Since it stays liquid down to about 30 C, it doesn't have to be very hot to flow as a liquid.

@catcam - 2022-04-02

Just subscribed ! Thanks for great content !

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-04-02

Thank you! Really appreciate it!

@danielfousek7806 - 2024-01-13

Impressive.

@markdoolan2527 - 2022-03-19

Buy a band saw and coil for cutting thick 2mm+ metal, that might help.
Also when using thread tape start at the bottom of the thread and work your way up.
Little tricks here and there can help 🤗




P.s
Oh and lastly my heart was beating so fast when I seen the vacuum set up 🥶 hmm maybe secure the tube to the collection flask a little bit more ...

@colin351 - 2023-12-02

Very cool, bud. I read about caesium auride on wikipedia and was hoping someone would actually make it

@AdvancedTinkering - 2023-12-02

You should check out my video about cesium auride ;)

@THYZOID - 2022-03-13

Nice! How did you make the glass distillation setup? I planned to make my own cesium soon and your setup looks safe and convenient.

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-13

Thanks! You can see me make the still in this video: https://youtu.be/mQ-T5NtHeJw

@aryansingh7209 - 2022-08-27

Very good channel but underrated!

@horatiumoldovan4836 - 2023-01-26

little accident involving Cs is quite big... didn't even watch the whole video yet (but certainly will since I'm into accidents)

@ifonlyeverything - 2022-03-13

Great video, really enjoyed watch that. And what a coincidence, I was also reading about Stern-Gerlach setups last week. Out of curiosity -- are you a scientist by profession or are you self taught?

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-13

Thank you! Appreciate it!
I am really curious whether or not I can get the experiment to work. We will see...

I study chemistry. But most of the things I do on the channel are self taught. But sometimes I get ideas from topics in a lecture. That's the case for the Stern Gerlach experiment.

@bpark10001 - 2023-11-23

You should use an excess of CsCl in the initial reaction. That way, ALL the lithium is consumed & can't distill over.

@TF-rr2hc - 2022-03-18

Cool Vid

@udobehner3751 - 2022-07-16

i think the cheapest cesium source may be cesium formate solution which available by the metric ton for about euro 100.- a kg as heavy liquid for oil and gas drilling from that i would produce cesium alum as the most badliest soluble alum reduce the crap with magnesium powder and destill off the cesium of course after all the crystal water etc. is gone vapor pressure of magnesium and cesium or aluminium should be different enough to seperate them in high vacuum and save on lithium you should be able to make a high purity cesium metal with the desired golden color I once bought a nice size cesium vial which i liked to hold in the hand until completely melted and then see the crystallisation The guy y I bought it from got it from a customs auction as customs had confiscated the cesium from some very smart smugglers.

@LFTRnow - 2022-10-02

I'm wondering if sodium instead of lithium would work (and perhaps work better?). Even though sodium still has to be made rather than bought, there are ways of making it comparatively cheaply thanks to Nurdrage's methods. It uses a Li starter, then after that a sodium starter. The yield is quite good. Alternately, you could build a sodium electrolysis cell (using either NaOH or NaCl). I wonder how well the Cs reaction would work using Na to displace Cs from CsCl?

@223556762308 - 2023-06-30

Lithium has a high boiling point. The others could theoretically cross contaminate.

@sekroyssektor4151 - 2022-08-25

Brudah, bin neidisch.
Will auch Elemente aufreinigen.
Ich würde gerne Asche komplett analysieren und die elementaren Komponenten einlagern

@TheBaBySiTteR90 - 2022-03-15

@Advanced Tinkering - i found your channel just today - i am myself am working on cesium for more than 3 years now as a project on my spare time - funnily enough i think you are german as well judging from your accent. I absolutely love to see the simmilarities and difference we have come up with creating our assemblies. I myself found the exact same metal ground joints as you were using - for a reaction vessel I decided to have a liftable cap which is sealed using silver plated oxygen free high purity copper cf gaskets - I could go on and on but i would love to get in touch with you - is there any messenger or email i could contact you with? i think we have many ideas to share for improvment - massive improvments i found were heating every part of the setup 3-4 hours at 140°C - to make sure any trace of water / moisture is removed. Afterwards assembling speed is also a crucial factor as every bit of moisture will cause impurity - so quick assembly and vacuum pump down is required. also the quality of the vacuum is a big factor as well - i started to get really nice resulty ar 10^-2 onwards.
Um es kurz zu sagen - gerne melden ich würde mich extrem freuen wenn wir Information austauschen könnten.

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-15

Hi,
klar, du kannst mich unter: advancedtinkering@yahoo.com kontaktieren. Würde mich sehr interessieren, wie dein Aufbau aussieht.

@TheBaBySiTteR90 - 2022-03-15

@Advanced Tinkering Wunderbar, email sollte angekommen sein.

@michaelmolter8828 - 2022-05-27

Look up triclamp fittings. Super cheap, stainless, go together with clamps. You could make the whole vessel open in the middle easily. Glacier tanks has been my cheapest source. Don’t look on McMaster, sooo expensive for triclamp.

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-05-27

Yes I looked at Triclamp fittings. But they are not compatible with the KF fittings. At least as far as I know.
I don't think the seal would withstand the high temperatures at the reaction vessel. It is very hard to find a seal that holds vacuum at 600 °C and is resistant to Lithium and Cesium.
That's why I had to use a mica based gasket with my first reaction vessel(you can see it in the first video I made about cesium).

@m.dreist8372 - 2022-03-14

Ich bin auf Dich über deinen Redditpost gestoßen. Wirklich extrem gute Arbeit! Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn man Dir irgendwie etwas Geld als Unterstützung zukommen lassen könnte (Patreon/PayPal). Zusätzlich wäre ein Vorteil von Patreon, dass man sich besser zu Projekten austauschen könnte. Discord wäre dafür natürlich auch eine Option. Auch praktisch wäre eine E-Mail-Adresse in Deiner Kanalinfo.
Es ist wirklich schön, Deine Freude und Dein Engagement für Naturwissenschaften miterleben zu können!

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-14

Vielen Dank! Ich war immer recht zurückhaltend, was eine patreon Seite betrifft. Grund dafür ist, dass ich nicht weiß, was ich dort zusätzlich bieten kann und mich auch nicht wirklich wohl fühle, Geld zu nehmen. Ich habe nun aber doch mal einen Account erstellt. Einfach in der Hoffnung, dass man sich dort mit anderen Personen zu seinen Projekten austauschen kann und neue Ideen bekommt. Ich werde meine Beiträge dort vorerst allerdings öffentlich erstellen, so dass jeder sie lesen kann. Wer mir dennoch finanziell helfen möchte, kann dies dann optional tun.

https://www.patreon.com/AdvancedTinkering

@jagoep - 2022-03-13

9:27. Why the hell aren't you wearing any PPE on your hands?

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-13

Wearing gloves is always a compromise. Gloves that would be sufficient to protect me would be so thick, that I would lose a lot of dexterity in my fingers. Thus increasing the likelihood of messing something up. Thin, latex or nitrile, gloves would not protect me and would add the risk of molten plastic on my skin.

The reaction of cesium is very quick and (provided the contact is very short) not as damaging to the skin as one would think.

Of course, I was wearing safety glasses and a lab coat.

@Discostoff2 - 2022-03-24

What is going on?

@ultrainstinkt8428 - 2022-08-08

Alter Falter

@emmanuelnah-4551 - 2022-03-12

Can you send it to me? Pls, I am an element collector

@AdvancedTinkering - 2022-03-12

Sorry, I don't sell or give away the cesium. But there are shops for element collectors, where you can buy cesium vials, that have been encased in acrylic to make them safe to handle.

@TheBaBySiTteR90 - 2022-03-15

Also sending cesium legaly aka properly labled and packed is firstly really expensive and secondly a giant headache - also depending on the law (in this case i assume germany) you need to have a sort of allowance which would enable you to sell that - aka a prrof that you know how to handle those substances (the seller needs that)

@starclassic210 - 2022-07-30

Dieses Video hättest Du besser in deiner Muttersprache gemacht.