Potassium Chlorate

Very often this substance is called Berthollet salt, named after a chemist from France - Berthollet, who discovered potassium chlorate, the formula of which is written as KClO3. Bertholle in his experiments received the substance by exposure to chlorine on an alkaline solution at a high temperature of the reaction flow. As a result of this reaction, potassium chloride, potassium chlorate and three water molecules were obtained. If you analyze the formula of the substance, you should pay attention to the fact that the Berthollet salt is very rich in oxygen.

Externally, the Berthollet salt is colorless crystals, which have a density of 2.32 grams per centimeter cubic, begin to melt at a temperature of 356 ° C, and decompose at 400 ° C. The solubility is 3.25 grams of substance per hundred grams of the aqueous solution at a temperature of 0 ° C. With increasing temperature, the solubility of the bertholet salt also increases.

With a sufficient heating temperature, it is very easy to "break up" with the oxygen atoms, which can be represented by the following equation: 2KClO3 = 2KCl + 3O2.

As a rule, a reaction is carried out in order to obtain the bertolet salt, during which the chlorine gas is passed under forced air pressure through high-temperature solutions of potassium hydroxide or carbonate.

During the reaction with hydroxides, the chlorine stream is directed through a 30% solution of caustic potassium, and when a carbonate filter is used, a solution of potash concentrated to a level of 45% is used.

It is important that, in such an operation, the crystals of the material do not clog the gas vents, therefore, use should be made of the alonge during the reaction.

Then, the potassium chlorate, obtained as crystals, should be filtered through glass wool and dried well. It is necessary to avoid in this technology the use of filters from paper materials, because the bertolet salt can react with the fiber contained in the paper and cause an explosion.

There are a lot of ways with which you can get Berlotov's salt. We describe some of them.

Mark 5-10 grams of permanganate in the Wurtz flask, then add about 30-70 millimeters of concentrated hydrochloric acid with a funnel, which must first be inserted into the solution flask. It is better to do this in a drip, because in this way the rate of chlorine formation during the reaction is more effectively regulated.

You can get potassium chlorate in an electrolytic way. To do this, a concentrated solution of common salt must be decomposed by the action of an electric current. Such a reaction is carried out as follows. Take some of the salt, best of all non-iodized and coarse-grained. Two graphite electrodes, a glass, electric wires, a beaker, a bottomless Wurz flask are used as equipment. Wires are connected to a step-down transformer through a rectifier that converts AC to DC. Electrolysis is carried out at a solution temperature of 70-80 degrees.

As a result of the reaction, potassium chloride is formed, which is much more soluble in water than Berthollet's salt. Therefore, after the end of the reaction, potassium chlorate settles on the walls of the vessel, and potassium chloride remains dissolved in water.

When carrying out various kinds of experiments and reactions with matter, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that its mixtures, especially with organic substances, are extremely explosive, and also "sensitive" to all kinds of impacts, high temperatures. Among the most active substances that react with berthollet salt are sulfur, antimony, ordinary soot, red phosphorus, starch and even sugar.

Potassium perchlorate - potassium chloride - is especially dangerous. This compound has a very strong explosion hazard, so it is used as a "working substance" in combat grenades, shells and mines. For long periods of storage, this connection may self-ignite.