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Notes for Crucible Usage

Time : 2022-07-28 Visits : 614

All platinum vessels shall be heated and burned on the oxidizing flame of the electric furnace or gas lamp and shall not be in contact with smoky flame and the inner cone of the flame to avoid the formation of brittle platinum Carbide.

Do not heat or melt oxides alkali metal and barium, hydroxides, sulphur cyanide, cyanide, nitrate, nitrite, mixture of Na2COand sulfur, mixture of Na2S2O3 and Si in platinum gold vessels. When the mixture of Na2O2 and NaOH decomposes the sample in a platinum container, the temperature can not exceed 510℃ to avoid serious erosion of the platinum container.

It is also prohibited to deal in platinum containers with halogens and halogens, such as mixtures of aqua regia, bromine, HCl and oxidants(such asKClO3、KNO3、MnO2、KMnO4、NaNO2、K2Cr2O7, etc.), because FeClsolution has a significant erosion effect on platinum.

It can not burn and melt specimens and compounds containing large amounts of metals(such as Pb, Zn, Bi, Sn, Sb, As, Ag, Hg, Cu, etc.) in platinum vessels. These elements are easily reduced to metals and damaged by forming an alloy with platinum.

In the presence of reducing substances(such as filter paper, organic matter, etc.), no material containing a large amount of phosphorus and sulfur shall be heated or burned in a platinum vessel to avoid the formation of brittle phosphorus(or sulfur) platinum.

A specimen containing a large amount of iron can not be directly melted in the crucible. Most of the iron must be dissolved with HCl first, and its sediment must be filtered out  before putting into crucibles. Polymetallic ore samples should be first treated with HCl-HNO3 with their residues in the form of ashes in porcelain crucibles.

Most metals will lose platinum and form alloys at high temperatures, so metal specimens can not be burned or melted in platinum crucibles.

From the platinum crucible, take out the condensed melting block. It is not allowed to forcibly twist, or to scrape it with a glass rod or a metal rod to avoid deformation or damage to the platinum crucible.

The crucible shall not come into contact with any other metal when heated. It is best that a stone sheet or firebrick remains below. It is required to use the platinum coated pliers to move the hot platinum crucible.

Do not use platinum vessels to heat or melt the sample with unclear components.

The used platinum vessels can be washed by boiling(1 +1 or 1 +2) HCl.


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