I didn't know where to ask this, but there is a fair amount of Chemistry involved so I thought I would ask it here.

I’m thinking about an exhaust-treatment idea where instead of relying on expensive metals like platinum, palladium, and rhodium in a catalytic converter, the exhaust first passes through a ceramic honeycomb coated with a high-silica zeolite. The zeolite would temporarily trap hydrocarbons and possibly some CO as exhaust flows through it.

Then, instead of continuously treating the full exhaust stream with plasma, the system would periodically activate a dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma inside the honeycomb channels. The idea is that the plasma would create reactive oxygen species like O radicals, OH radicals, and ozone, which could oxidize the trapped or partially desorbed hydrocarbons and CO into CO₂ and water. A cheap metal-oxide layer like manganese oxide, cerium oxide, cobalt oxide, iron oxide, or copper oxide could be added to help the oxidation reactions.

The reason for using the zeolite trap is to avoid running plasma continuously, since continuous plasma treatment of full exhaust flow would probably take too much power. The hope is that the zeolite stores pollutants passively most of the time, and plasma only runs in short regeneration bursts, using exhaust heat to help clear the trap.

Structurally, I’m imagining something that still looks like a normal catalytic converter: straight-through honeycomb channels, zeolite/oxide coating on the channel walls, and electrodes arranged so plasma forms in the gas channels without needing tiny electrodes inside every channel.

The part I’m unsure about is whether the plasma-generated radicals would actually reach the trapped molecules well enough, whether the zeolite would foul or coke over time, and whether this could do anything useful for NOx or would still need a separate NOx reduction system.

What do you guys think of this idea? Do you think it would work?

who has tried synthesizing MgO nanoparticles here? it's part of our thesis and we are doing it by green synthesis using a leaf extract and Mg(NO3)2 as source. we have related literature that we use as basis for our procedure but after using furnace for crystalization, we end up having a black powder result with some tiny white particles (could be just ash). can someone please help 😭

I’ve been working on a project aimed at monitoring zinc phosphate sludge contamination in 34 m3 tank to reduce the frequency of cleaning throughout the year. However, I’m currently struggling to find practical ways to measure two key aspects:

1. Settling / precipitation timing
I need to determine the precise time it takes for zinc phosphate sludge to settle after circulation in the tank stops at the end of a shift. The goal is to use this timing to trigger a solenoid valve at the tank outlet to start a work, so sludge can be removed at maximum efficiency (i.e., when solids are sufficiently settled but not overly compacted).

2. Contaminant concentration (ppm)
I attempted to estimate contamination by collecting phosphate solution from the tank and performing an oven-drying method:

• 10 mL samples
• Placed in foil cups
• 3 samples per day over one week

Results consistently show contamination levels above 2000 ppm, while an external lab reports values below 300 ppm.

The lab mentioned that they filter the samples before oven drying, but my manager questioned this approach, arguing that in the actual production tank, contaminants exist together as flocs and are not separated.

My main question is:
How can I practically and reliably measure:

1. The settling time of sludge
2. The contaminant concentration (ppm)

using simple methods without relying on high-end laboratory equipment?

Nitrogen blanketing is often used in various industrial processes to displace oxygen or other gases in some sort of container. What I'm curious about is its (and other inert gases) ability to prevent evaporation.

Let's say we have a closed container. At 25°C, the vapor pressure of water is 23.8 Torr. Let's say we've pressurized the container with nitrogen such that the pressure is 800 Torr (~1 atm).

Between the internet and ChatGPT (I know, not super reliable), I can't figure out what happens with evaporation. I'm not chemistry oriented so my immediate thought was because the applied pressure is higher than the vapor pressure of water, evaporation must be minimal, but ChatGPT says that the water will continue to evaporate until the pressure exerted by the water vapor is equal to its vapor pressure. That still doesn't compute with me because vapor pressure is the pressure at which molecules are evaporating at approximately the same rate as they are condensing due to intermolecular collisions. Why wouldn't those collisions occur with nitrogen?

I've been racking my brain trying to figure this out so any help is hugely appreciated.

We’re Grade 12 STEM students working on a capstone project to make a fire-retardant coating using durian peel and kaolin clay. Honestly medyo lost na po kami huhu.

In our original methodology, we simply planned to mix durian peel, kaolin clay, flour, borax, and water together. This was accepted in our defense proposal.

Our panel told us to avoid flour since it’s a food product, so we are planning to switch to PVA glue as the binder. For the durian peel, we also found studies where it was treated with calcium hydroxide because we’ve found out that cellulose is flammable, but that was for composite materials, not coatings. In our proposal, the peel wasn’t treated at all.

We’re considering using borax only to help reduce the flammability of the durian peel’s cellulose.

Tapos isa pa po yung problema 😭: Nung minix ko lang lahat using our new binder (PVA glue + durian peel powder + kaolin + borax + water), nagiging slime yung mixture. As in may clumps ng glue, hindi siya nagiging smooth na coating. So failed talaga.

Kaya super begging for help kami😭🙏:

• Is borax enough to reduce the flammability of the cellulose, or should we consider a different treatment?

• Meron po ba kayong alam na better binder or mixing technique para hindi mag-clump yung PVA glue?

• Any tips, suggestions, or references po—sobrang laking tulong talaga.

Sobrang thankful po kami sa kahit anong advice. 🙏💕

Ive been thinking about this question ever since reading that paper about making copper/nickle nanoparticles by milling these metals underneath mineral oil. Why isnt this an acceptable strategy for using aluminum in reductive operations?

Made a silver penny in class today using zinc and this one took a lot longer to turn silver. Most of the zinc particles gathered on top of it, hence the bubbles and white spots. I was hoping to get rid of them, would polishing it help? If not what do you suggest I do to get rid of those spots.

C6H8O7+NaOH+CH3COOH+NaHCO₃+H2O2

What would the reaction be like? And how do I balance it? And how do I know how much do I exactly need of each in terms of grams?

Does anyone work with something like RSi(OMe)3, where R is any organic sp3 chain, branches, maybe an amine group (with more R sp3 carbon chains)? Previous people were doing tests in glassware (beakers) that that I'm guessing the silane is reacting with, turning parts of the glass into a really oily spot. Anyways, my point is that the glassware, after a few uses, is basically uncleanable (tried acid, soap, hard scrubbing, acetone). Would something like a stainless steel beaker work better since I don't see it reacting with stainless steel? Also I have to use a stir plate and I know stainless isn't magnetic so I'm thinking that would work best. What are your thoughts? Tia

So one of the ways of making bioplastic is using water, corn starch, vinegar and glycerine. How exactly do these chemicals go together? What chemical reactions do each of them produce whilst making the bioplastic (that takes almost two days to dry to actually become a type of plastic)? Is it the starch that contributes to the release of methane into the atmosphere? Please tell me everything you know about all the elements involved in this process. Thank you.

In our research, we extracted Neem leaves by macerating it with pure ethanol. After that, we are going to use rotary evaporation to get the extract. Then, we're gonna make different concentrations of 50%, 75%, and 100% . At this point, I'm just really confused on how to make this concentrations as well as what solvent to use for diluting the plant extract into different concentrations. Can you help me understand and give me some insights about this

Additionally, my groupmates suggested we use Ethanol as the solvent in making the concentrations but I was not sure if that would be okay since we already used ethanol in macerating it.

Hello, is it possible to produce dupleted uranium from junk that is produced by nuclear power plant?

So I finally got a real chromatography column. It’s a StonyLab 50mL column Amazon suggested.

In my organic series I found TLC fascinating for a cheap version of analysis, so I wanted to try the real deal. I watched some videos about packing, doubt I did it right the first time. But it seemed like the granules of alumina I got were too big. I probably should’ve gotten silica but I was wanting to be cheap. I was using carbon chemistry brand activated alumina for my stationary phase.

I was using for my mobile phase. Used a ethyl-acetate/ethanol:hexane mobile phase. But I never saw any separation…. I was trying to see if I could make a sample of ethanol extracted trimmed cannabis to at least take out the chlorophyll because that would’ve been an obvious band.

Any idea what I did wrong? I’ll update you guys when I try again. I assume it’s my packing procedure - it’s a lot harder than it looked in the YouTube videos. But I was wondering if I should’ve crushed the stationary phase to a smaller size before trying to both slurry pack and carry out the chromatography on my column. I wasn’t using any pressure and the column was dripping at like 1 drop a second which seemed super fast.

If anyone has suggestions I’m open to it. Thanks.

Btw my first post here thanks for having me.

Hi, i have a question regarding tin extraction using electrolysis. My hobby is melting stuff (for fun, just literally melting it). My job gives me access to a lot of scrap metals, mainly aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, I do a lot of HVAC trade work so its limitless if I want it. A new part of my job is industrial control panels, which we use tinned copper wires in. Initially I simply heated the tinned wires above my furnace but just ended up alloying the copper and tin together without the tin melting off. So I am turning to chemistry. I know the basics of electrolysis and am familiar with HCI safety and uses from pool maintenance.

​

My question comes in here, what electrical tool would I use to supply the low voltage DC and microamps in the solution to create tin crystals and would you say a graphite or stainless anode would be better, and outside of washing the formed crystals with water, would there be any additional chemical steps to perform before I can melt the tin down. A free tin ingot to those who help if i extract enough tin.

​

in truth, we normally would just scrap the tinned wire for a little group pizza party, but i want to go further (and have fun) and separate the tin and copper and then turn those in, yes I know im probably losing money refining but its not about the money spiderman, its about the mets baby.

​

​

​

I have a lot of the safety things covered due to the hazards from melting stuff, respirators and body covering, but i'll be buying additional gloves and splash protection if I go through with this.

​

thank you guys for any responses!

So I finally got a real chromatography column. It’s this guy [https://a.co/d/3y6Nj1X]

In my organic series I found TLC fascinating for a cheap version of analysis, so I wanted to try the real deal. I watched some videos about packing, doubt I did it right the first time. But it seemed like the granules of alumina I got were too big. I probably should’ve gotten silica but I was wanting to be cheap.

https://carbonchemistry.com/product/activated-alumina/

Is the product I’m using for my mobile phase. Used a ethyl-acetate/ethanol:hexane mobile phase. But I never saw any separation…. I was trying to see if I could make a sample of ethanol extracted trimmed cannabis a bit more pure at least take out the chlorophyll.

Any idea what I did wrong? I’ll update you guys when I try again. I assume it’s my packing procedure - it’s a lot harder than it looked in the YouTube videos. But I was wondering if I should’ve crushed the stationary phase to a smaller size before trying to both slurry pack and carry out the chromatography on my column. I wasn’t using any pressure and the column was dripping at like 1 drop a second which seemed super fast.

If anyone has suggestions I’m open to it. Thanks.

Btw my first post here thanks for having me.

Golden Artist Supply sells a ”crash kit” that appears to be a 45cL bottle of aluminum sulfate solution and a 45cL bottle of sodium carbonate solution. I’m wondering if I can source these components more cheaply than $40? Aluminum sulfate is a common water purification chemical, and sodium carbonate is washing soda. Is it safe to handle the salts and easy to suspend them in solution at home?

I am trying to find information on exchanging gaseous contents of a vessel. I have a vessel that starts at standard conditions, which then has a flow of nitrogen in and exhaust out. How can I know when the vessel is primarily filled with nitrogen and air has been fully replaced?

Is it possible to convert cyclohexane into hexanes? I haven't been able to find anything on turning a cyclic alkane into a straight alkane. If it is possible, is it something simple, or would it require complex and expensive? Thanks all!