Ferric Chloride

[Gliden07]

Has anyone tried making their own Ferric Chloride? I've watched a couple videos on making it seems easy enough just not sure if its worth the time and energy? I need some and its such a PITA to get now that Radio Shack is gone!

 

[Bruce McLeish]

You can but powder fcl from the science co. And just mix with water or alcohol.

 

[BossDog]

I buy powder on eBay. Easy to to mix and nice sealed bottle for the extra.

 

[Jesse Latham]

Be sure to add the powder to the water not the water to the powder. And cold water not hot.

 

[IanF]

I have a bottle of powder butseems to have all crystallised and stuck in the container. I guess some moisture got in there. Any tips on getting it out? It would be easy if I could just add water but I know this is not the thing to do with acids.

 

[Gliden07]

I have a bottle of powder butseems to have all crystallised and stuck in the container. I guess some moisture got in there. Any tips on getting it out? It would be easy if I could just add water but I know this is not the thing to do with acids.

I've been reading up on the powder. According to a couple articles it will absorb enough moisture from the air to turn into a syrupy consistency. Maybe open it up and let it sit?? Don't take this as gospel as the powder is very new to me!

 

[billyO]

Any tips on getting it out? It would be easy if I could just add water but I know this is not the thing to do with acids.

I'm going to push the envelope here (maybe) and suggest carefully adding water to the bottle until you have enough to dissolve all the crystals enough to pour them out of the bottle. It's my understanding that the whole 'always pour acid into water not the other way around' suggestion is merely to minimize the risk of splashing the acid around when you pour the water in too fast. If you pour slowly and carefully, there should be no problem. Make sure you take all the other appropriate safety steps, gloves, goggles, don't have your face directly over the bottle and don't breathe any fumes coming out, etc.

 

[IanF]

I'm going to push the envelope here (maybe) and suggest carefully adding waterto the bottle until you have enough to dissolve all the crystals enough to pour them out of the bottle. It's my understanding that the whole 'always pour acid into water not the other way around' suggestion is merely to minimize the risk of splashing the acid around when you pour the water in too fast. If you pour slowly and carefully, there should be no problem. Make sure you take all the other appropriate safety steps, gloves, goggles, don't have your face directly over the bottle and don't breathe any fumes coming out, etc.

As an update on this I have managed to slowly add about a cup of water to the container without any incident at all. I’m letting it soak overnight and hope to have dissolved the solid lump after some time.

 

[Drew Riley]

It's my understanding that the whole 'always pour acid into water not the other way around' suggestion is merely to minimize the risk of splashing the acid around when you pour the water in too fast.

The reason you don't add water to acid is that with certain acids, there is an exothermic reaction as a small concentration of water reacts with the larger concentration of acid. This immediate, intense heat causes the solution to boil and bubble or spray up out of the container. When you slowly add acid (AAA: Always Add Acid), the smaller concentration of acid has a much smaller reaction to the larger volume of water.

This is probably more of a concern with concentrated sulfuric or hydrochloric acids than it might be for powdered FCl. Still, it's not a good habit.

BTW, I hope the lid wasn't tightened after the water was added, and try not to breath the fumes as the water and ferric chloride react.