Trying to make iron oxide/rust Am i doing it right?

[samy109]

Ok well just yesterday I began trying to make some rust for another experiment i will be doing (thermite hehe). So basically my setup is this, ive got a 12v adapter with the ends stripped plugged into the wall, and the negative wire has a huge bolt so it wont "erode" quickly and the positive side which is the one that bubbles the most i think has an iron nail on it, if i was backwards, you get the idea. So i turn it on and my first batch was fine but it made black and orange stuff, not all orange and when i heated it it turned all orange. Now im on my next batch and blue stuff keeps forming on the bolt then sinks to the bottom no matter what i try and orange stuff accumlates on the top(which im guessing is rust or something?). So whats the blue stuff? am i doing this right? Whats going on? Thanks in advance - samy109:confused:

Edited July 8, 2010 by samy109

[Arthur Dent]

A much easier technique is simply to use steel wool. Put two or three steel wool sponges in a transparent tupperware plastic container and pour a bit of bleach in it (about 1 inch). Put the lid on and place the container outdoors in the sun (some chlorine gas may evolve from this process). The steel wool will immediately start to oxidize. Shake the contents a bit from time to time to loosen the rust particles and expose fresh metal to the mix.

 

At the end, you'll have a good quantity of iron oxide with a bit of carbon mixed in (steel contains carbon to make it harder). Rinse off the bleach by filtering the rust in a funnel with a paper coffee filter. If you want the iron oxide to be separated from the carbon, put it in a widemouth jar full of water and shake it vigorously, that'll make the Fe203 separate and when you let the stuff settle, the brown Fe2O3 will sink to the bottom and the black C will settle in a black layer on top. if you're agile and careful, you can scoop off most of the C from the top and that'll leave you some relatively clean rust!

 

Robert

[Newbies_Kid]

that blue thing may be a ferrous ferrite. It actually was a type of corrosion product of iron.

http://corrosion-doctors.org/Experiments/iron-products.htm

[samy109]

Thanks for the info guys but could i ask for a better explanation of why i got the blue stuff and what the orange stuff is?

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Actually, my rust looks just like that second picture except i didnt add hydroxide....what the heck?

[Newbies_Kid]

Nope, hydroxide (OH-) is actually the redox(reduction) product of water. About the "black rust", i suggest you to left the red/brown rusting nail and that black rust nail for more longer and see which one rust faster. If i'm not mistaken, that black rust is actually a good coating and can slow the rusting rate. It may be formed due to addition of heat or maybe caused by unstable oxidation/reduction of Ferum and water.

[CharonY]

Depending on the aeration, temp and pH red is often something in the line of ferrihydrite that eventually gets converted to goethite. Black is often hematite.

[samy109]

Ok thanks guy! anything else you can tell me?

[rogerxd45]

the steel wool method worked great for me.

 

harbor fright tools has some thats pretty cheap