Caesius Posted August 27, 2011 Posted August 27, 2011 Hey everyone! I want to buy some chemicals, but I can't find a good supplier. Where should I go?
spin-1/2-nuclei Posted August 27, 2011 Posted August 27, 2011 Hello, If you're a business or working at a university you can easily get an account with major chemical suppliers like Aldrich, etc. They will not sell to you if you are not a legit company/university with a legit need for chemicals etc. - http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/chemistry.html?cm_mmc=Google_eBusiness-_-search-_-SIAL+Branded_Aldrich+Chemicals-_-aldrich_Phrase&cm_guid=1-_-100000000000000025735-_-7408516959 If you are a private individual not involved in a business, it will be very difficult to obtain access to chemicals for personal use. If, on the other hand, you have a PhD in a relevant science - or the person who is/would be working for you does, you may be able to coordinate access to hood/lab space at a local University's tech park (if they have one), but you will need legitimate research and reasonable startup capital. Otherwise, you can rent industrial lab space etc, but again, you will need someone with a PhD or MS and a few years experience in charge of your lab and capital before you are likely to gain access to a space to work and chemicals to stock it with. hope this was helpful, Cheers.. 1
spin-1/2-nuclei Posted August 28, 2011 Posted August 28, 2011 This must depend a lot on the country. Yes, it is difficult to obtain chemicals as a private individual in the western countries. Cheers
Caesius Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 Yes, it is difficult to obtain chemicals as a private individual in the western countries. Cheers I don't want anything too complicated or dangerous. I just want some chemicals pure enough that I will know what the products will be. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to perform an experiment with aluminum and HCl. Technically the predicted products will be H2 and AlCl3, but somehow I ended up with some gasous ammonia and chlorine gas just because my reactants were not pure. Basic experiment, but extreamly dangerous results. I figure that pure HCl would be safer than unexpected chlorine gas.
John Cuthber Posted August 30, 2011 Posted August 30, 2011 "I ended up with some gasous ammonia and chlorine gas" How, and how do you know?
Caesius Posted August 30, 2011 Author Posted August 30, 2011 "I ended up with some gasous ammonia and chlorine gas" How, and how do you know? The chemicals I used were Toilet bowl cleaner and Lye. I could tell it was NH4 and Cl2 because I know what they smell like. I also did some pH tests which helped my theory of NH4.
John Cuthber Posted August 30, 2011 Posted August 30, 2011 The chemicals I used were Toilet bowl cleaner and Lye. I could tell it was NH4 and Cl2 because I know what they smell like. I also did some pH tests which helped my theory of NH4. NH4? "I wanted to perform an experiment with aluminum and HCl." "The chemicals I used were Toilet bowl cleaner and Lye." Is it just me who thinks it may be just as well this guy doesn't have access to many chemicals? (And I still want to know where the Cl2 came from)
spin-1/2-nuclei Posted August 30, 2011 Posted August 30, 2011 NH4? "I wanted to perform an experiment with aluminum and HCl." "The chemicals I used were Toilet bowl cleaner and Lye." Is it just me who thinks it may be just as well this guy doesn't have access to many chemicals? (And I still want to know where the Cl2 came from) Nope. I agree. Why can't people make rock candy when they decide to take up chemistry as a hobby? It's tasty, safe, and you can make it in many pretty colors! sigh..
gutter_ca Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) Nope. I agree. Why can't people make rock candy when they decide to take up chemistry as a hobby? It's tasty, safe, and you can make it in many pretty colors! sigh.. Man, you really are against the home lab, eh? Don't you remember your first science kit anymore? Stop trying to squelch curiosity. To the OP: OTC reagents can be purified, go to Google. Also, Lye is most definitely not HCl. Edited August 31, 2011 by gutter_ca
spin-1/2-nuclei Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 Man, you really are against the home lab, eh? Don't you remember your first science kit anymore? Stop trying to squelch curiosity. To the OP: OTC reagents can be purified, go to Google. Also, Lye is most definitely not HCl. Uh, yeah I remember my first science kit, and it never had anything dangerous in it. So like I said, if someone wants to learn how to make rock candy I'm more than happy to oblige. As far as your other statements go, I don't even know where to start. You do realize that training and certification are necessary for a reason right. Would you go to a "doctor" with no proper training? I mean wow, just wow. I suppose requiring me to have proper training before performing brain surgery on my neighbors would be "squelching curiosity" too. LOL! sigh..
Caesius Posted August 31, 2011 Author Posted August 31, 2011 NH4? "I wanted to perform an experiment with aluminum and HCl." "The chemicals I used were Toilet bowl cleaner and Lye." Is it just me who thinks it may be just as well this guy doesn't have access to many chemicals? (And I still want to know where the Cl2 came from) My apologies, I seem to have confused two experiments that I did next to each other. Just to clarify, one experiment involved Toilet Bowl cleaner (HCl) and Aluminum. The other involved Toilet Bowl cleaner and Drano (NaOH). The first experiment was fine and it did what I wanted it to. (i.e. creating aluminum chloride and H2) The second experiment produced some Cl2 and NH4. Because Toilet Bowl cleaner and Drano are not pure HCl and NaOH, something else reacted that I did not want. I want something that is not from Wal-mart or Lowes. (Which I have been getting all my "chemicals" from because I cannot find a reliable chemistry store).
spin-1/2-nuclei Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 My apologies, I seem to have confused two experiments that I did next to each other. Just to clarify, one experiment involved Toilet Bowl cleaner (HCl) and Aluminum. The other involved Toilet Bowl cleaner and Drano (NaOH). The first experiment was fine and it did what I wanted it to. (i.e. creating aluminum chloride and H2) The second experiment produced some Cl2 and NH4. Because Toilet Bowl cleaner and Drano are not pure HCl and NaOH, something else reacted that I did not want. I want something that is not from Wal-mart or Lowes. (Which I have been getting all my "chemicals" from because I cannot find a reliable chemistry store). Hello, It will be extremely difficult for you to obtain access to quality chemicals. I personally don't know of any suppliers in the west that will ship to private individuals. The best you can do is call each chemical company and ask them about their policy for shipping to private individuals not associated with a company or a university. If you explain to them what you're using the chemicals for and are ordering small enough amounts they *might* ship to you. You can try Aldrich to start: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/south-africa.html Cheers
John Cuthber Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 Unless and until he can get the right formula for ammonia I think we should leave him with this sort of supplier. http://www.handycandy.co.uk/ Making candy might be a bit dangerous. Incidentally, when I was getting my first science toys the only reason they didn't include a nuclear reactor was the price. There were none of these phony comments about safety.
Caesius Posted August 31, 2011 Author Posted August 31, 2011 Unless and until he can get the right formula for ammonia I think we should leave him with this sort of supplier. http://www.handycandy.co.uk/ Making candy might be a bit dangerous. Incidentally, when I was getting my first science toys the only reason they didn't include a nuclear reactor was the price. There were none of these phony comments about safety. Hilarious... I'm good at chemistry, not computers. I also happen to be dyslexic. I know what the formula for ammonia is. I just accidentally wrote the formula for ammonium.
WorldOfBiochemistry Posted August 31, 2011 Posted August 31, 2011 I usually buy the chemicals to Sigma-Aldrich or Merck. Those are the two most widely known brands...
Greg Boyles Posted September 1, 2011 Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) I don't want anything too complicated or dangerous. I just want some chemicals pure enough that I will know what the products will be. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to perform an experiment with aluminum and HCl. Technically the predicted products will be H2 and AlCl3, but somehow I ended up with some gasous ammonia and chlorine gas just because my reactants were not pure. Basic experiment, but extreamly dangerous results. I figure that pure HCl would be safer than unexpected chlorine gas. What's wrong with aluminium foil from the super market and spirits of salts (for cleaning brickwork) from the local hardware store? Both are quite pure. Sodium hydroxide / drain cleaner also dissolves aluminium like acid to give sodium aluminium hydroxide complex and hydrogen. But toilet cleaner probably contains sodium hypochlorite / bleach and ammonia, which would account for the unexpected reaction products. Edited September 1, 2011 by Greg Boyles
Johnny_Pencilface Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 You can get pure sodium hydroxide if you shop around websites of cleaning companies. There's a cleaning company in Northern Ireland that delivers pure NaOH. You could always look on Ebay too, under the "Business, Office & Industrial" section.
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