snow in a test tube

[woelen]

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

[woelen]

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.

[Comandante]

awesome! thanks for sharing!

[woelen]

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.

[woelen]

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.

[YT2095]

Hmmm.. I have Niobium Metal here but not the Chloride, I wonder how hard it would be to make some?

 

Nice Pics Woelen

[YT2095]

Hmm.. this thread`s a little Borked?

[woelen]

This thread is totally screwed up. My post appears three times 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.