Jump to content

snow in a test tube


woelen

Recommended Posts

I have a nice compound, niobium pentachloride, which can be used for making snow. It is volatile, but also easily sublimes and condenses. It easily goes from the gas-state to the solid state and as such can form snow. This effect is really neat and it is something I want to share with you:

 

http://woelen.scheikunde.net/science/physics/exps/nbcl5/index.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making NbCl5 is not easy at all. I purchased this from an eBay seller.

 

IIRC, it is made by heating NbO2 (which is quite inert) with CCl4, in the excess of chlorine. This process gives COCl2 (phosgene), together with NbCl4, which is oxidized to NbCl5 by the excess of chlorine.

NbCl5 is VERY reactive, it is hydrolysed at once, as soon as it comes in contact with water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making NbCl5 is not easy at all. I purchased this from an eBay seller.

 

IIRC, it is made by heating NbO2 (which is quite inert) with CCl4, in the excess of chlorine. This process gives COCl2 (phosgene), together with NbCl4, which is oxidized to NbCl5 by the excess of chlorine.

NbCl5 is VERY reactive, it is hydrolysed at once, as soon as it comes in contact with water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Making NbCl5 is not easy at all. I purchased this from an eBay seller.

 

IIRC, it is made by heating NbO2 (which is quite inert) with CCl4, in the excess of chlorine. This process gives COCl2 (phosgene), together with NbCl4, which is oxidized to NbCl5 by the excess of chlorine.

NbCl5 is VERY reactive, it is hydrolysed at once, as soon as it comes in contact with water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is totally screwed up. My post appears three times :confused: and even before your post with the question about making NbCl5.

Yesterday I had troubles posting in this thread. I obtained a strange error, telling me something about clock skew or something like that (don't remember precisely).

 

Anyway, my post was meant as a response to your post on making NbCl5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.