Fun with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4)

Titanium tetrachloride is a highly volatile metal halide. Upon contact with moisture in the air it will decompose to form dense clouds of titanium dioxide and hydrogen chloride.

A former classmate of me had to work with this compound for a project and in an effort to avoid contact with the atmosphere he used a lab syringe to inject it into his reaction vessel.
Sadly the tip of the huge needle became clogged with titanium dioxide.
This is a recording of him cleaning it up.

The red washbottle is acetone, the white one is water.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• TiCl4
• titanium
• tetrachloride
• hydrogen
• chloride
• HCl
• hydrochloric
• acid
• TiO2
• decomposition
• laboratory
• chemical

[mohamino]

What's that device in the fume hood? Cool vid! 

[bl0rkatr0n]

@mohamino The black and white device with the blue bar is a vacuum pump, it wasn't in use during this experiment though.

[MonsterHunter721]

whats up with all the commies here?

[bl0rkatr0n]

@MonsterHunter721 In Soviet Russia video watches you.

On a related note WTF are you talking about?

[ranjah76]

You should see 20 gallons of it spill all over machinery and then spray it with a water hose! Ya. It's fun.

[joseduardo27]

Too expensive way to have fun. Also HCl formed could damage the pump. So, don´t let your Professor watch this video!

[MonsterHunter721]

@DragonFlyback256

I've never watched the video with sound

[DragonFlyback256]

@MonsterHunter721

Russian sounds a -very- different way.

[DragonFlyback256]

@bl0rkatr0n

LOL, good one. xD

[MonsterHunter721]

@bl0rkatr0n

lol i was talking about the language, I now realize i was a retard because its dutch...

I thought it was Russian when I saw it lol