Questions tagged [applied-chemistry]
Chemical processes and theories being used in practical and experimental applications.
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Why can't we make liquid crystal displays out of soap?
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are widely used everywhere, especially in the screens of computer monitors, TVs, and small devices like thermostats. As its name suggests, LCDs use substances with ...
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Cleaning carbon deposits from brass
I’m looking for a reasonable way to remove carbon deposits from brass. Specifically smokeless powder residue from cartridge brass. At present I use Acetone warmed to about 50C in a water bath and then ...
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Please explain the difference between HFC technology and PEMFC technology
I understand how hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs) function, but what are the differences between them and PEMFC's?
I know that there are HT-PEMFCs and LT-PEMFCs, for low and high temperatures.
Do PEMFCs ...
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Has lithium hydride ever been tested as a rocket fuel?
I know about the Rocketdyne tripropellant rocket that burned $\ce{H2}$, $\ce{Li}$, and $\ce{F2}$ together, but why not use lithium hydride instead? Has anyone tried this, and if so, what was the ...
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Can cyclopentylmethyl ether replace the use of methyl tert-butyl ether as an octane improvement additive
Can the replacement of methyl tert-butyl ether as an octane enhancer with cyclopentyl methyl ether be a better choice as a more eco friendly solution?
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/CA/en/product/sial/...
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Why don't we ever hear about potassium pollution from fertilizer runoff?
News articles are constantly droning on about algael blooms, dead zones and such from excessive agricultural NPK fertilizer usage...
Yet, we never hear of excessive potassium causing a problem...
Why?
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Replacing calcium acetate with sodium polyacrylate for homemade Sterno?
I was researching making canned heat using denatured(ethyl) alcohol, water, and calcium acetate from scratch.
However, it occured to me that sodium polyacrylate also absorbs water and alcohol and is ...
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Disproportionation reactions
Are there any examples of a disproportionation reaction being harnessed to do useful electrical work? It is of course possible in a comproportionation reactions, such as a lead-acid cell.
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Can I Detect Hydroxyl Radicals Using Methylene Blue Spectrophotometry?
I am going to be pulsing radiation into a chamber containing a solution of water and both ferric and ferrous iron. The irradiation event should cause a Fenton reaction to ensue and I'd like to trap ...
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Whatever happened to the use of perfluoroalkanes as breathable liquids or blood substitutes?
Some liquid perfluoroalkanes have very high solubilities and carrying capacities for gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide.
In the 1980s and 1990s there were experiments showing that animals could &...
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How does the heat-activated blowing agent in foaming plastic filament survive the manufacturing process?
Special 3D printer filaments are available with blowing agents mixed in. These blowing agents cause the filament to foam as it is extruded, causing the resulting structure to have a much lower density....
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How to achieve highest CO2 pressure from acetic acid + sodium bicarbonate reaction?
I'm planning to make a high-end vinegar + baking soda rocket and started doing some researches for the best ratio of the reagents's concentrations to achieve maximum pressure. Furthermore, I know that ...
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Chemistry project on hand warmers: Salt hydrates
Currently I am working on a chemistry project about hand warmers. My goal is to find a salt hydrate which gets warmer than sodium acetate trihydrate and can supercool. I already bought magnesium ...
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Usage of thermobaric explosives to combat forest fires [closed]
This is a general question but in a thermobaric explosion I know the bomb uses all the present oxygen in the reaction. Could you please give an example of one of these reactions? Even if it isn't ...
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How to draw delayed picture on the concrete wall?
I have a concrete (stone) vertical wall. I want to put a picture on it.
I have several limitations:
I want to make it in a security, so I want to place something on the wall, that would be ...
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Parameters of NaHCO3 + citric acid + H2O + NaCl mixture potentially impacting functional efficacy in pest control application?
I have been searching for infomation on this application, but have some specific questions that I have not seen directly addressed in the Google/Stack Exchange posts I've come across thus far; below ...
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Can stainless steel be electrically insulated with (oven-dried) Sodium Silicate Solution?
Can I electrically insulate stainless steel by painting Sodium Silicate solution on it and heating it to 200C for 30min or so?
The solution should be conductive, and I've been told (to be verified) ...
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How is it decided that a particular chemical or compound is useful for a very specific purpose? [closed]
In textbooks, I often find extremely specific uses of chemicals. Is chemistry research mostly focused towards finding specific use cases?
For example, I know that boric acid kills snails. How do ...
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How does (E)CA glue ("super glue", "crazy glue", etc.) cure?
I use CA glue† very frequently in my shop, but I'm not entirely sure how it works. I've noticed three main modes of curing, I've emphasized the key observations:
When dispensed, it will remain fluid ...
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Purging submersible with nitrogen
I do a lot of short term ocean field deployments where system electronics are self contained in a submersible enclosure. A new project I'm working on requires a long term deployment in the deep ocean. ...
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Food-grade antifungal preservatives for alcohol-containing aqueous non-food product that won't UV-yellow when dried?
I need a broad-spectrum antifungal (yeast and mold) agent for an aqueous non-food product (pH $\simeq$ 6) that contains 20% v/v alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol). A key requirement is that it not UV-...
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Is mixing silicone oil with other types of oil safe?
I'm looking to lubricate some nylon gears in a servo motor, and online sources tell me silicone lubricants are one of the best ways to go.
However, when I opened up the servo, I found that it already ...
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Steel Wire Rusting & Glowing Orange
In my backyard I have a DIY wire trellis made in part by wrapping a steel wire around a water wellhead. I noticed out the window in the dark a tiny pinprick of orange / yellow light coming from the ...
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Significance of enthalpy of hydration of salts [closed]
I've been researching for weeks but can't find anything on a real life process of hydration, as my experiment is determining the relationship between the enthalpy of hydration and different types of ...
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Carbohydrate Chemistry for Candy Making
I am trying to understand the different behaviors of sugar syrups when it comes to candy making. Specifically, maple syrup vs molasses.
In making maple candy, pure maple syrup is heated to soft ball ...
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Research-backed articles on cast iron seasoning
I've always seasoned my cast iron pans with vegetable oil because that was what I was taught. I'd done some research before, and even came across this StackExchange post on asking the best oil for the ...
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What does 1:4 t-BuOH/H2O mean?
I've got a - probably rather not-so-smart question regarding chemical reactions. In many publications, the authors say that they used e.g. t-BuOH/H2O (1:4) as solvent. What exactly does 1:4 mean? Is ...
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Is sodium percarbonate the safest and by weight the most efficient oxygen generator? [closed]
I have been reading about $\ce{Mn}$-catalyzed reaction of sodium percarbonate and water to produce gaseous oxygen in medical emergency situations.
This seems safe due to its reagents and products, ...
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How to oxidize tantalum? [closed]
I am interested in learning how to oxidize tantalum. I have seen some tantalum rings that the sellers say is a permanent smokey blackish color. But I've spoken to some people that say tantalum cannot ...
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Synthetic ruby - damaged by heat less than its melting point?
A bit of a jewellery question but chemistry related. I want to encase a synthetic ruby (corundum, Al2O3) in silver by melting the silver around it. Either in a furnace or by casting. The MP of silver ...
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What substance consumes oxygen from atmospheric air [closed]
I'd like to find an economical substance that will consume oxygen from a container. Steel wool comes to mind but I don't have an intuition how feasible it would be.
The chamber is 5 gallons in size ...
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Artificial nose sensors
I'm am doing research in creating an artificial nose. I need to know how this process works by someone with domain expertise; essentially, what technologies are available currently to detect a broader ...
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distillation of aqueous CAN solution for the purpose of a reversible and strong endothermic reaction in cool packs
I know calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) is used for cold packs. By bending a small metal plate the salt gets dissolved in water (separated pack) and this process is endothermic.
I would like to heat ...
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Why can we still breathe in valleys? [duplicate]
Air is 1% argon. Argon is heavier than air.
Why doesn't the argon concentrate in low-lying areas, choking out life there?
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Good Alternative for Plasticized PVC [closed]
In my current job we use gloveboxes, but unlike most we use disposable PVC bags on the entry ports instead of fixed gloves. The bags have an O ring which is stretched onto a spigot proud of the ...
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Why was rhenium used as an igniter in flash bulbs?
It looks like it typically had a current passed though it to ignite zirconium threads.
What properties of rhenium made it the best metal to use for this?
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Why is antimony oxide used as a flame retardant?
What is the mechanism of action of antimony oxide as a flame retardant? Is this to do with radical absorption?
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Determination of hardness of water using EDTA
Finding hardness of water by using EDTA. For determining permanent hardness we take the sample of about $\pu{50 mL}$ and then add Eriochrome Black T (EBT) indicator that results in wine red color due ...
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Why is paper sometimes yellow?
Where I'm from, most paper you find/get at stores has this yellowish tinge. Why is it yellow and not white?
In my chemistry book it's mentioned that paper manufacturers "refine" paper from wood pulp, ...
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How to calculate resulting pH of mixing 2 fruit juices [closed]
I want to make jelly from a mixture of 50% fresh apple juice and 50% juice of another fruit. The resulting pH must be less than 4.6, otherwise the jelly will not be safe from C. botulinum.
Based on ...
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Using quantiative analysis to find empirical and molecular formula
A compound of Ca, C, N and S was subjected to quantitative analysis and formula mass determination, and the following data were recorded.
A $\pu{0.250 g}$ sample was mixed with $\ce{Na2CO3}$ to ...
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How can I make a better whiteboard cleaning solution?
I just started work as a lab assistant in a chem lab. The whiteboard the instructor uses for classes gets very dirty very quickly. The woman who started at the same time as I did spent over 3 hours ...
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How to determine fire hazard of heating ethylene glycol to dissolve borax and boric acid
I am looking to replicate instructions provided in the last paragrph of this article that requires dissolving borax (Sodium Tetraborate decahydrate ($\ce{Na2B4O7·10H2O}$)) and boric acid in ethylene ...
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Are there any significant uses of the compound formed by magnesium and anthracene?
In an unusual reaction, magnesium reacts with anthracene in THF to form a grignard-like compound called, prosaically, magnesium anthracene:
I remember using it briefly in the 1980s. At the time there ...
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Does selenium sulfate corrode or otherwise react with metals?
I was just watching a cartoon called Motorcity, and they featured a real compound called selenium sulfate.
While I'm sure that the compound blowing up a detached steel [car part] on contact is just ...
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Is it possible to make Spider-Man like web fluid? [closed]
Is it possible to make a substance which has similar properties to that of the web fluid e.g. High tensile strength, sticky (can attach to most of the surfaces), evaporates within few hours etc. If so ...
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Bonding Carbon Fiber to Metal
I have an application for a very thin, strong, electrical conductor that need to act as a (almost) frictionless support "rope". Typically materials like tungsten wire or platinum-iridium alloys have ...
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Boron nitride polymerization with silicon based molecules
Since boron nitride is similar to carbon hexagonal structures and silicon is a main component of inorganic polymers. Is it possible to make it from a polymer under certain conditions, if so what ...
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Baking soda + oil solubility
I have a question regarding the solubility of baking soda (bicarb soda) in oil. I am pretty sure that it has poor solubility, but I have a chemistry dilemma and cannot seem to solve it.
I make all-...
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Where is my antimony going?
I work in a trace metals laboratory operating an ICP-OES. I've been having some trouble with the recovery of antimony in a weak $\ce{HCl}$ solution post-digestion.
The antimony is part of a mix of ...
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