Caustic Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 I recently bought around 90 lithium batteries from a government auction. They are the button type measuring a little under an inch across. What could i use these for? besides their intended electrical use. When disassembled there are 2 halves, one is full of what appears to be carbon powder and some sort of electrolyte, and the other side is just a chunk of Li metal. One neat thing i discovered is that the Li ignites from friction and violently burns a hot red colo(u)r. It burned so hot that it ate away a little crater in the concrete. I like to make fireworks and was thinking the Li could make some nice effects. I have lots of KNO3 and was thinking about trying to isolate the K with the Li if it isnt too difficult. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 yeah, give me half of them personaly, I use the batts until dead, THEN pop them open. put the lot in a beaker of hot water and give it a good stir, filter out the obvious solids, leaving my LiOH. normaly from there I Nitrate it, Crystalise and store it as for K metal extraction, Good Luck, there`s been a few here that have tried it, non with K metal as result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 i like how clean this forum is. there are certain...reductions...you could do with them that i would not advise you to do, as there would be certain...reprocussions...for doing them. interesting how the government gave you materials to synthesize certain drugs... i suggest you keep a little of the metal in a container just for the novelty of it and use it to reduce oxidized metals so you can get a nice element collection. if you were really ambitious you could do some really exotic thermites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 would you REALLY waste it on themits bud? personaly keep some metal, use the batts then make hydroxide of it the beatifull part with LiNO3 is that on heating it reverts back to the Oxide anyway, and is re-usable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 yeah, i'd definitely waste a little thermiting some vanadium pentoxide, cobalt oxide, etc for example. would have to be done in an inert atmosphere tho, which could make things a little difficult. good thing is that i could just electrolyze it back to the metal after finishing. i guess you could say that i could just form the chlorides of the metals in the first place and electrolyze them but hey, thermites look cool:\ i dunno, i have little use for alkali metals and generally people shouldn't, unless they really feel like getting into the drug business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Whoa! 2 points! I AM SOoooo not "into drugs" of any sort! I see too many of the little `//ankers around here daily as it is! secondly, you have Cobalt Oxide!!!!!??? and do you want to part with some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 oh i wasnt implying you were into drugs. sorry if it came across that way. nope, but i can get some i probably would part with just a little for the novelty of having some Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Cobalt has to be one of my fave trans elements, I don`t really have any rational reasoning as to why it is, I just love the colors it can produce mainly (sad I know). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 "as for K metal extraction, Good Luck, there`s been a few here that have tried it, non with K metal as result" Heh, I hope Caustic doesn't end up with a molten potassium blob up his nose. I'd personally use lithium to displace thorium from lantern mantle ash. Or wouldn't, in the case FBI or the like are monitoring this thread... *walks away whistling* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 you could throw them at people! i dunno, buying batteries on mass isnt my speciality... but yeah, use em and keep the litium and do whatever with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Hmmh... You could separate hydrogen from HCl with lithium quite easily. I can't see why anyone would like to spend lithium for that purpose though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folder Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Hmmh... You could separate hydrogen from HCl with lithium quite easily. I can't see why anyone would like to spend lithium for that purpose though. You can get hydrogen from water with lithium, it's neat to watch a metal just disappear into a cup of water amid a bunch of hydrogen bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artorius Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 what that really happens in water,i wear my watch in the bath which isnt water proof,could it burn my wrist..i fail to see the reference to drugs though who would want to eat lithium batteries for a high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 almost as cool as dissolving polystyrene in acetone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folder Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 what that really happens in water,i wear my watch in the bath which isnt water proof,could it burn my wrist..i fail to see the reference to drugs though who would want to eat lithium batteries for a high I'm sure the batteries are well sealed because if they weren't, just the oxygen in the atmosphere could oxidize about all the lithium in the battery away to Li2O in a matter of hours or days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 they are very well sealed, and you`de smell it long before any damage occured too, the inside are soaked in Diethyl Ether. that`s another good reason to be carefull when opening them, Ether`s very flamable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 "You can get hydrogen from water with lithium, it's neat to watch a metal just disappear into a cup of water amid a bunch of hydrogen bubbles." Strong HCl solution + zinc is fun too. And cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 just dont do anything like K and HCl:\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 "just dont do anything like K and HCl:\" Yeah, I don't recommend it either. It's probably fun though, but in a masochistic and stupid way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 ..i fail to see the reference to drugs though who would want to eat lithium batteries for a high lithium is an anti-depressant. snort it and you will get really buzzed. REMEMBER: DRUGS ARE BAD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 But the theraputic dose of lithium is so VERY close to the lethal dose of lithium that giving it to a really depressed person isn't such a good idea. heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 lithium is an anti-depressant. snort it and you will get really buzzed. REMEMBER: DRUGS ARE BAD i believe thats the carbonate salt of lithium that is used as an anti-depressant. the metal wouldnt be...healthy if pure. ..i fail to see the reference to drugs though who would want to eat lithium batteries for a high i was referring to using lithium in birch reductions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1dermon Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 lithium carbide, i believe is whats used as an anti-depressant...correct me if i'm wrong...i could look it up, but im tired, and i have finals tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 The anion does not matter. It's the Li+ ion that handles all the action. Li2CO3 is commonly used because it's cheap, it's fairly non-reactive, and it's easily absorbed by the body. However, LiCl could be used if one wanted. Anything that will give you that Li+ ion would work. (So really, if you didn't mind the intense pain and burns from doing it, you could just chew on some pure metal. heh). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 i take it the lithium goes straight to the axons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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