What chemicals/solvents do you keep in your lab? And what for?

[PedroDaGr8]

In addition to the tendency to form unstable peroxides, it has a low boiling point, and extremely low flash point. Wickedly flammable stuff, with heavier than air vapors that tend to "crawl" along benchtops and floors to find an ignition source.

This is the truth. In undergrad, one of my fellow undergrads was TA for the sophomore organic lab. She had a student who refused to listen when told "Do not heat ether on a hot plate". With ether typically you evaporate it either under vacuum or via a brisk stream of nitrogen. He was told this three times. What happens, once again he's heating ether on a hot plate, this time with the large bottle of ether open in the hood with it. Another big no no. Sure enough whoosh it catches fire. The fire travels across the fume hood to the large 4L bottle of ether. He knocks it over freaking out. The resulting fire evacuated the building, destroys that one fume hood and he's kicked out of the lab (if not the school, I graduated before that all finished).

[N2IXK]

Yeah, we usually used a steam bath to reflux or evaporate ether when I took chem years ago.

Your story sounds like a good submission for "How Not To Do It" over at Derek Lowe's chemistry blog:

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/how_not_to_do_it/

A great collection of really boneheaded lab screwups....

[Macbeth]

Or perhaps this is the opposite situation to the one with hydrochloric acid. In EU it's rather hard to get it,

Not in France - many supermarkets have the stuff on the shelf. In fact, compared to the UK where you can't buy stuff like HCl or Acetone even at DIY stores, French supermarkets seem to do a reasonable range of basic household chemicals.

Never looked at the strength though - probably not all that concentrated.

I've managed to buy a gallon of "Wonder Wheels" for cleaning my cars alloy rims to a sparkle. It works very well and only cost £9 in Costco. I later learned it is essentially HCl + soapy surfactants and water. I'm not quite sure how concentrated it is, but it dissolves crappy caked on brake dust in no time.

[echen1024]

Potassium Permaganate: Antibacterial, not much use, just a pretty purple
Contact Cleaner
Solder
Isopropyl Alcohol 91%: Solvent
Goo-Gone: Another oily solvent
Flux (Kester 951)
Thermal Compound

In the garage on a shelf, a little glass bottle of 95% HCL from my mom's chemical engineering days.

[grumpydoc]

In the garage on a shelf, a little glass bottle of 95% HCL from my mom's chemical engineering days.

Probably not 95% as you can't get concentrations that high - 38% is the practical upper limit.

[echen1024]

In the garage on a shelf, a little glass bottle of 95% HCL from my mom's chemical engineering days.

Probably not 95% as you can't get concentrations that high - 38% is the practical upper limit.

This was purchased from China 20 years ago. The bottle says 95%, but who knows.

[PedroDaGr8]

In the garage on a shelf, a little glass bottle of 95% HCL from my mom's chemical engineering days.

Probably not 95% as you can't get concentrations that high - 38% is the practical upper limit.

This was purchased from China 20 years ago. The bottle says 95%, but who knows.

You can get higher in the anhydrous form but it's called hydrogen chloride not hydrochloric acid. It's also a highly dangerous gas not a liquid. We used it to make noble gas salts in a lab IIRC. What yours likely means is 95% of the maximum theoretical purity of hydrochloric acid(38%)

[echen1024]

In the garage on a shelf, a little glass bottle of 95% HCL from my mom's chemical engineering days.

Probably not 95% as you can't get concentrations that high - 38% is the practical upper limit.

This was purchased from China 20 years ago. The bottle says 95%, but who knows.

You can get higher in the anhydrous form but it's called hydrogen chloride not hydrochloric acid. It's also a highly dangerous gas not a liquid. We used it to make noble gas salts in a lab IIRC. What yours likely means is 95% of the maximum theoretical purity of hydrochloric acid(38%)

Ah yes, probably that's it. We clean our toilets with a 4% solution of it. Works wonders.

[M. András]

what kind of pump dispensers tolerate pure acetone? and if any of you know a source in europe which stocks menda pumps im all ears cos farnells inport pricing sucks... and i wouldnt dare to put it into a chinese cheapy dispenser the i have for ipa is half working after a few months
i keep ipa and now acetone.
in the warehouse/drug distributor i work we stock pure acetone 99.xx percent and ipa  so got a glass bottle of each in this week i didnt know it before we stocked these as none of it is meant to be in medicine etc, as for the ipa, its half the price of what farnell stocks at different brand names

[SeanB]

Very easy, just go to any laboratory suppliers and ask for a Ceramus dispenser. wetted parts are PTFE, borosilicate glass, ground aluminia and a small stainless steel spring. Compatible with pretty much any liquid except HF, and for that you get a titanium spring.

I have a lovely collection of knife and blade dressers from them, from dropped ones. Bit pricey at 600 Euro each though, but they are very accurate and the adjustable ones are adjustable in 0.1ml increments.

[M. András]

i didnt find under this brand a pump dispenser which sits on top of these cheap chinese and the menda dipenser bottles only the liquid soap dispenser like chem lab grade stuff, its a bit hard to dip a brush into that

[eKretz]

I've got all sorts of solvents etc. Let's see...Acetone, Toluene, Xylene, IPA, Mineral Spirits, Lighter Fluid, TSP, HCl, Ferric Chloride etc. Toluene and Xylene are both available at local hardware/painting stores here in Indiana with no special forms to fill out.

[SeanB]

i didnt find under this brand a pump dispenser which sits on top of these cheap chinese and the menda dipenser bottles only the liquid soap dispenser like chem lab grade stuff, its a bit hard to dip a brush into that

http://www.hirschmann-laborgeraete.de/en/artikelgruppe/93120

Fits standard lab bottles ( and comes with around 5 different adaptors so it pretty much will fit any bottle you have in a laboratory) and is adjustable or fixed depending on model.

[echen1024]

i didnt find under this brand a pump dispenser which sits on top of these cheap chinese and the menda dipenser bottles only the liquid soap dispenser like chem lab grade stuff, its a bit hard to dip a brush into that

http://www.hirschmann-laborgeraete.de/en/artikelgruppe/93120

Fits standard lab bottles ( and comes with around 5 different adaptors so it pretty much will fit any bottle you have in a laboratory) and is adjustable or fixed depending on model.

How much? That is the question.

[nanofrog]

i didnt find under this brand a pump dispenser which sits on top of these cheap chinese and the menda dipenser bottles only the liquid soap dispenser like chem lab grade stuff, its a bit hard to dip a brush into that

http://www.hirschmann-laborgeraete.de/en/artikelgruppe/93120

Fits standard lab bottles ( and comes with around 5 different adaptors so it pretty much will fit any bottle you have in a laboratory) and is adjustable or fixed depending on model.

How much? That is the question.

~$365 - $544 for the Basic series, and the Advanced series has one that tops out at ~$1115 (HF model). 

Sure makes Menda a lot more attractive. 

[SeanB]

Yes, it is expensive, but if you need them.........

I have a nice collection of very expensive knife sharpeners from broken ones, the ceramic plunger pretty much always survives the fall, while the glass housing does not. you get a very good edge off of it on any knife with a little work.

I am looking for some cheaper alternatives though.

[FrankenPC]

I've got a bottle of aqua regia in my cabinet.  I was doing chemistry experiments with gold reclamation and my parts bin.  Now that I've seen first hand how volatile that acid is, I'm no longer interested in chemistry .   
Now what do I do with the stuff?  I suppose a 2LB bag of baking soda and a lot of patience will work.

[SeanB]

20l of water to dilute it and then a lot of baking soda and it will be very safe. If no baking soda cement works as well. Not going to be a good building cement afterwards  ( as the builders of the Tongaat mall are busy finding out that using cheap cement and not enough will bite you badly, as the building collapsed) but will be simple to dispose of.

[Kjelt]

I've got a bottle of aqua regia in my cabinet. Now what do I do with the stuff? 

Be very carefull with this stuff if in contact with too little water it will boil and splatter all over so be extremely carefull with the correct procedure:
do not add water to the acid BUT add the acid to an extremely large container of water while wearing very good protective gloves and shirt (plastick).
Then you can neutralize it with any base like the baking soda. If dilluted in enough water you can safely dispose off it in the street sewage.

Best thing is to hand it over to the chemical disposal depot of your local community if you have one, be sure to properly label the bottle so they know what to do with it.

When there is no depot and you are not sure about the safe procedure or you feel unsure, I would strongly advise (sorry for all the environmental freaks) to open the bottle with gloves on a bridge above a large river or lake and just drop it so it sinks off and slowly dillutes there. Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

[N2IXK]

...open the bottle with gloves on a bridge above a large river or lake and just drop it so it sinks off and slowly dillutes there. Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

Hey, it worked for Uncle Sam!



I wonder how much they managed to raise the pH of that lake....

[nanofrog]

Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

How about one of these?

[FrankenPC]

I've got a bottle of aqua regia in my cabinet. Now what do I do with the stuff? 

Be very carefull with this stuff if in contact with too little water it will boil and splatter all over so be extremely carefull with the correct procedure:
do not add water to the acid BUT add the acid to an extremely large container of water while wearing very good protective gloves and shirt (plastick).
Then you can neutralize it with any base like the baking soda. If dilluted in enough water you can safely dispose off it in the street sewage.

Best thing is to hand it over to the chemical disposal depot of your local community if you have one, be sure to properly label the bottle so they know what to do with it.

When there is no depot and you are not sure about the safe procedure or you feel unsure, I would strongly advise (sorry for all the environmental freaks) to open the bottle with gloves on a bridge above a large river or lake and just drop it so it sinks off and slowly dillutes there. Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

That's actually not a bad idea.  Once the nitric and HCL acids react with the matter in the lake, it's gone anyway.

[Kjelt]

Hey, it worked for Uncle Sam!

I wonder how much they managed to raise the pH of that lake....

interesting video, they normally wouldn't want evidence.
Dumping chemicals in water was the defacto answer prior to the 70s here is a 1945 action where still today problems continue to arise;
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/65000-tonnes-of-dumped-chemical-weapons-may-now-be

[rob77]

...open the bottle with gloves on a bridge above a large river or lake and just drop it so it sinks off and slowly dillutes there. Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

Hey, it worked for Uncle Sam!



I wonder how much they managed to raise the pH of that lake....

none at all but i would rather neutralize and pour to sewage, if there is no place for disposal of chemicals (first choice).

here in EU we have those disposal places in every town - and those guys will take care of the stuff (chemicals, oils, old car batteries...etc...)

[Macbeth]

...open the bottle with gloves on a bridge above a large river or lake and just drop it so it sinks off and slowly dillutes there. Better a few dead fish then a chemical burn 

Hey, it worked for Uncle Sam!



I wonder how much they managed to raise the pH of that lake....

none at all but i would rather neutralize and pour to sewage, if there is no place for disposal of chemicals (first choice).

here in EU we have those disposal places in every town - and those guys will take care of the stuff (chemicals, oils, old car batteries...etc...)

Actually this is mostly true, old engine or gearbox oil, oil filters, batteries, etc. the local environmental recycling facility will take them (in the UK).

However, draining engine coolant into the sewer seems quite common to me, but I realised how poisonous that shit is (dogs love the taste, and die drinking it). I phoned my environmental health dept at the council on how I can legitimately dispose of this stuff.

You would not believe the carousel of phone calls from the recyclers / dumps / hazardous waste / sewage authorities I had to ask the same question to. The only legit but absurd answer I got was I had to contract with North West Water for a few £1000's and get a certificate, then turn up with my 2 pints of waste engine coolant and lob it in their sewer.

Thankfully the guy on the phone understood my concerns of not killing fish and stuff, and suggested that I dilute my ethylene glycol waste in a full bath of water and then drain it. Though that is technically illegal.