NurdRage - 2017-09-30
In this video we make sulfuric acid by the copper chloride process. The general idea is simple: Take a solution of copper (II) chloride and bubble sulfur dioxide into it until most of the copper (II) chloride is converted into copper (I) chloride. This reaction also converts the sulfur dioxide into sulfuric acid and produces hydrochloric acid. Now the copper chloride can be regenerated by bubbling air into the mixture until the copper chloride dissolves again. This cycle can be repeated. When you want to isolate the sulfuric acid you forgo air infusion for that step and filter off the preciptated copper chloride. Then you distill off the hydrochloric acid and water from the filtrate. The sulfuric acid left behind will precpitate out most of the remainig copper salts and when filtered will give you relatively pure sulfuric acid with some water and minor copper contamination. The copper chloride can be recombined with all the hydrochloric acid from before and the cycle repeated. Related videos: Make a heating mantle to distill sulfuric acid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5meDWAqYes Distilling sulfuric acid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgUH0HXrOKE Make copper chloride PCB etchant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8mHiFYmlBc make sulfuric acid using hydrogen peroxide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okvvD3-DF9U Donate to NurdRage! Through Patreon (preferred): https://www.patreon.com/NurdRage Through Bitcoin: 1NurdRAge7PNR4ULrbrpcYvc9RC4LDp9pS Glassware generously provided by http://www.alchemylabsupply.com/ Use the discount code "nurdrage" for a 5% discount. Social media links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/NurdRage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NurdRageYoutube/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nurdrageyoutube/
Digging up old video clips from 2009 makes me feel old. It's been 8 years since i did those experiments. The video doesn't hold up well in terms of quality. Maybe i should redo some of them with more modern equipment.
adelmo worytko isolation but it is aluminum, tin foil is far way more expensive
Foil reflects radiated heat back in, so it helps keep the flask and/or column warm - you don't want your product condensing and falling back into solution before it hits the condenser.
MysteriusBhoice gypsum is already calcium sulfate
+ChemicalMaster that sounds like what happens at old gold mine tailing piles. When they don't destroy the cyanide leachate properly it starts a chain reaction with water. Would love for more discussion if people are interested with a video from +NurdRage
Hamizan Amran yeah but its not worth the expense.
'let's get into wasting valuable hours of our lives'
Sounds like you're itching for something more substantial after finishing your pyrimethamine.
Above all, it always sounds like Nurdrage survived a comicbook-style sulfur hexafluoride accident which left him forever acoustically deformed 😬
who else loves NurdRage's honestly? truly one of the best parts of about him besides his amazing knowledge
Man, I freakin' live for your videos. You inspired me to go to college for Biochemistry in the first place. Just wanted to let you know how awesome I think you are.
Eight years ago he launched my tinkering in chemistry to full blown home laboratory work. Congratulations on studying biochemistry, by the way!
@Anneliese o'callaghan full blown? Oh my.... Don't say that!
⚗️💥
😋
Is it possible to bubble SO2 gas into dilute h2so4 that is simultaneously electrolyzed? The idea is that electrolysis will produce active oxygen gas that reacts with SO2, so the SO2 will be converted almost immediately into h2so4. If done correctly i think the only input will be SO2, water and electricity
So, how much Sulphur Hexafluoride do you get through making these videos then? :P
"now lets get started wasting valuable hours of our life". Comments like that is how you know someone has a PhD.
Amen to that! 😭
man NR got really nihilistic in this one
Maybe to speed up the process of oxidation from cucl2 to cucl you could use an oxidizing agent like peroxide?
I find these vids fascinating....I just wish I'd paid more attention to school chemistry lessons....
Green smoothies nerdrage style.
WARNING: Don't drink this.
Couple questions:
Could you use something like ozone instead of oxygen to re-oxidize the CuCl to CuCl2 more quickly?
Also, would an easier way to do this be by making H2SO3 from SO2 & H2O, then oxidizing it to H2SO4 with something like O3 or Cl2? (Cl2 would end up making HCl, but could be boiled off easily?)
You mentioned it could be altered into a continuous process, with my particular blend of hobbies this makes me wonder if the process could not be automated? The very long reaction times are much less a concern, it seems to me, if the reaction can run unattended in a box behind the shed. Just a thought.
NurdRages videos never ends up on my Youtube startpage even though I watch and like everyone. Love these videos ^^
it's good to know that you're still alive <3
3:43 new favorite word: homogenius
Thanks NurdRage!
Ps. Love your vids keep it up
I want to make ethyl linalool via an sn2 reaction between linalool in an alkaline solution and lithium ethoxide. Is there anyone that can tell me if this will give me a good yield or produce any undesirable byproducts? Thanks!
Great vid. I always appreciate info, never know when there will be a MacGyver opportunity.
Woohoo! You're video showed up on my feed!
Alexis Vézina your
I've been waiting for this since your tweet!
I love the "crushing your expectations" segment, especially the wasting time part, that made my day!
Maybe the purpose of making the sulfuric acid is to make a weapon and thus you can't buy it and leave a paper trail. Life isn't all about just time and money!
The audio sounds awesome on head phones. but I really am curious as to how you burn the sulfur. Is that a mix of sulfur and wax? great vids loving the science.
You always remind me why I liked chemistry growing up. It was good to see this video actually show up on my notifications and recommendations after some of the issues YouTube has been giving you. Hopefully they've fixed the issue and I enjoy learning how to do these reactions, even if I don't have a lab to put the knowledge to use.
It's great to see so many people eager to "waste valuable hours of our life" in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
Myself included. :D
Ok you got me laughing with the disclaimer
I've always wanted to make Sulfuric Acid by the Copper Chloride Process :D
Please make a video about lighting matches indifferent gases, I have some possible to do suggestions,
Do regular air as control
Do pure chlorine gas
Do pure CO2 to show that it doesn’t burn
Do pure oxygen
Do NO2
Do SO2
Do pure H2 to show it doesn’t burn without oxygen
But do it pure so no unexpected reactions ocur
You could definitely try bubbling ozone instead of air, IIRC ozone generators are not that expensive to buy and run.
But you need to feed the O3 generator with pure O2 otherwise the output is still mostly air.
That was interesting. I can agree that it is way easier to buy Sulfuric acid than it is to do that. I look forward to more videos. {I'm really patient}
what about bubbling the air through a glass-sinter/glass-wool to increase the surface area of the bubbles? could this speed things up?
copper (I) chloride sounds familiar:
"Materials purported to be copper acetylide can be prepared by treating acetylene with a solution of copper(I) chloride and ammonia:
C2H2 + 2 CuCl → Cu2C2 + 2 HCl
This reaction produces a reddish solid precipitate.
When dry, copper acetylide is a heat and shock sensitive high explosive, more thermally sensitive than silver acetylide."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(I)_acetylide
Could one use ozone for the oxidation step? Ozone can be easily made with a UVC lamp, opaque tubing to insulate the UVC lamp, and a computer fan. UVC lamps are like $15 online
Next, could you show how to make fuming sulfuric acid?
would oxygen directly bubbled in increase yields?
Still not getting your videos in my subscription feed, I filed a ticket with YT when you made the video asking us to if we had an issue.
damn, did you click the bell and check of notifications was turned on?
If it's still a problem, send another feedback ticket. Beyond that i'm not sure what can be done other than to open a new account and see if that works.
I will file another ticket, I had set notifications originally, but I will redo it. I make a point to check your channel anyway, but wanted to be sure you knew the issue continued.
Think you'll ever make a video about oleum?
you should devise an iodine clock like reaction that goes through several colors instead of just black and colorless
Can I make sulfuric acid by passing sulfur dioxide through I3 / KI solution?
Good news! Your video showed up in my feed!! :)
I have a more effective method for producing H2SO4 that is moderately scalable
it uses drywall or hydrated gypsum as paste cathode with steel rod in the middle
how 2 video comming soon
Materials:
then the anode is a lead coil
the cell construction involves 3 containers
paper sheet (seperator barrier)
cotton (seperator)
1 water bottle (smallest)
1 glass jar (medium)
1 metal/glass pot (large)
The electrolyte is sodium sulfate made by reacting CaSO4 with NaOH
to get starting electrolyte
PSU 12v with max current of >10A
construction and setup:
The water bottle has holes poked into the sides to let water in and a sheet of paper
is rolled and placed on side of bottle.
Cotton is added at the bottom to seel the air gap of the paper roll in the bottle.
The water bottle is filled with hydrated gypsum do not use plaster or it will solidify
a steel rod is inserted in the midle.
Add some of the starting electrolyte to this and keep it damp till the paper is wet on the sides
then place it in the medium glass jar and fill that up with the rest of the electrolyte.
Then you place the lead coil in the solution of the glass jar.
the setup is placed in a metal/glass cooling container filled with water to prevent overheating.
the cell is hooked up where the steel is the cathode(-) and the lead is the anode(+)
run it for as long as you can replacing the central cathode to further concentrate the acid but make sure
not to deplete the sodium ions.
Post run cleanup:
remove the cathode from the center of the cell.
WARNING!! do not turn off the power supply untill the cathode is removed or the electrolytes may react and BOIL!!
also chloride contamination may cause release of HCl gas.
filter the electrolyte from the glass jar and place in the freezer until precipitate comes (NaHSO4+Na2SO4) and save it for future runs.
the liquid is then boiled to remove HCl contamination then distilled to get pure H2SO4.
PS I live in a country where u cannot buy sulfuric acid so i have to go and dig up some gypsum :)
i can just get it from the ground that way!
I don't understand why your videos don't show up in my feed ò.ó DAMNIT YOUTUBE
It may not be the best way of making sulfuric acid but it's still very interesting to watch. Someone might not be able to buy sulfuric acid and this could be the only way for them to obtain it, so it's still very useful video for someone. Thumbs up!
You can buy it /in/ a battery. You buy a battery. They put the acid in it. Then you can take the battery out of the store.
You can't get just the acid and you can't get the battery and acid as two parts.
That's very unfortunate. It's the most viable source of sulfuric acid for hobbyists in ex USSR countries.
Concentrated acid is regulated but this stuff is not
If you know what your looking for anything can be purchased over the counter in Aust sorry to burst your police state bubble
If anyone's poking around in the comments and is in Australia, look for mo-flo liquid drain cleaner, it's ~$50-60 for 1L of 98% sulfuric, but it's still cheaper than doing this.
Some of the combinations you come up with are not what one would see in a common Chemistry text book. Do you have any references for designing reactions? I've been through the thermodynamics classes and "get" the Gibbs free energy stuff but am usually at a loss for finding sufficient data to use those concepts.
Hello NurdRage. I am having a hell of a time getting acids here in japan. Some things have cas numbers that I can use but most dont. I speak english. I have been waiting for a vaccum pump so I can try Chemplayers process of bubbling SO2 through hydrogen peroxide. I also need to concentrate my peroxide up to 30% which is a pain in its self. So I would appreciate more videos geared toward people like me who have huge limits on availability. They dont even sell sulfuric acid to clear drains here. There is only so much fun stuff one can do without acids. It has taken me a year to get the litmus paper beakers scales and I built a magnetic stirrer. I am dedicated but limited.
Ive still yet to do the method by chemplayer. I am thinkig now about vanadium dioxide. To make oleum
I love you man, thank you for the videos
Will copper(II)-acetate work as well?
Wouldn't it be more efficient to disperse the solution into small droplets increasing the oxidation rate?
What if pure oxygen (from a concentrator were to be used, both in the sulfur burner and regenerating the solution)? Would that speed up the oxidation?
Theres nothing wrong with good old fashioned chemistry. Looking back at my old videos makes me nostalgic! :) Keep them coming they are great.
I would be interested in bubbling 03 gas to see what if anything that improves
Cody'sLab - 2017-12-23
Awesome! This seems easier than the nitric process I've been looking at.
Delta - 2019-01-17
Hello Cody!
Anonymous - 2020-08-17
2 years later