Benzotriazole and KBr appearance

[Murray@uptowngallery]

I got my order from Photog's Formulary today.

Two items had a surprising appearance...

The benzotriazole wasn't a powder but looked like spun fibreglass - long white strands..is that normal?

The KBr (potassium bromide) was in rocky chunks...I guess if one makes a huge bottle of it, a rock can be weighed & the water volume selected accordingly. I wanted to make a small volume but didn't realize I needed a mortar & pestle.

I have a spice/coffee grinder I plan to use to pulverize acetaminophen...I guess I could do that to have some control over how much chemical. Don't want airborne dust however...

Welcome to DIY, huh?

[Phillip P. Dimor]

I have benzo from photog's form. It is 'fluffy and needle-like' in appearance. Like cotton-candy almost. I believe it's normal (and really tough to get to dissolve!)

[Akki14]

You'll probably get less dust with careful handgrinding with a mortar & pestle than with one of those impossible-to-clean-100% coffee grinders, IMO.

[Murray@uptowngallery]

This machine has a blade rather than a mill/grinder arrangement. I think it would be a good idea to never use it for food again...

I had a mortar and pestle as a kid with a science kit...I wonder what suspicion I would generate buying one these days...no worse than having a garage full of chemicals I guess.

Thanks for the appearance-verification, PPD.

[eclarke]

Murray,
A cheap hotplate from Walmart set on low,low heat will help you dissolve the benzotriazole and is useful for all formulation. If you could find a nice Corning heated stirrer, you will be in formulating heaven. You can probably get a good mortar and pestle at any Asian food market....EC

[Akki14]

Mortar and pestles must be more common over here for kitchen stuff; they seem rather ubiquitous. I know what kind of coffee grinder you're talking about, my parents had/have one of those (and it's hard to get a decent even grind with it) and it does kick up some dust as it's going and when you open the top up.

[juan]

The appearance of both is normal. The KBr pellets will dissolve with stirring. I've done it by hand, but it's much easier with my magnetic stirrer.
juan

[Murray Kelly]

I disolved benzotriazole in denatured alcohol. 1% (1g in 100ml) is 10mgm/ml.
Disolved easily.

Murray
Brisbane

[Mike Wilde]

get used to it - it will always chunk up. I have a small (3" dia) mortar and pestle devoted to just this chemical. I also ocassionally get a good sized pair of pliers down into my container of it to break up big chunks before I consign the smaller bits to grinding. Most of the time it is easier to make up a 10% solution of bromide in hot distilled water, and then just measure out the required mL to get the weight that a formula calls for. This means the pestle sees only seasonal use when the bromide bottle gets empty.

I deal with the BTZ the same stock solution way except I make it up as a 1% solution, since it is usually needed in such small amounts. Yes the material is certienly finely divided. One purchase of the stuff though, is usually a lifetime supply.

[Peter Hogan]

The BTZ if fine; white needle-like appearance, and it will dissolve readily in hot water. As already mentioned, Kbr will always form 'rocks'. It breaks up fairly easily and dissolves very easily too.