Everything you ever wanted to know about the production and purification of alkali metals

[@LabCoatz_Science]

It's hard not to be jealous of research labs with literal pounds of cesium, rubidium, and elemental fluorine, lol. Must've been a fun trip for you, great video!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thanks! Yes, it was an awesome and very interesting day.

[@BrandonSchabes]

don't you mean kilograms ;)

[@izarscharf7845]

idk id get nervous next to 1kg of Cs just one mistake away from giving everyone a very very bad week ...

[@Wtfinc]

So fun there is a disco light above the argon dryer

[@AdvancedTinkering]

@@tafdiz No, I do not study at this University. But their chemistry department is great!

[@jackmclane1826]

This is on the highest level of educational videos available on KZbin! Brilliant! My highest respect!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you so much!

[@Wtfinc]

There was some “shitty” parts i loved lil

[@damienmiller]

Well done Prof. Dr. Florian Kraus for delivering a fascinating applied chemistry lecture while holding a giant glass apparatus that seemed poised to take out someone's eye.

[@erikdimitrov8140]

Please make more videos in this lab, especially about fluorine!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I will try my best. But of course he is also very busy and the opportunity must arise.

[@bfgoalie99]

@@AdvancedTinkering We don't mind waiting. He's great

[@JohnDDK]

Absolutely amazing video! It’s a pleasure listening to researchers so passionate about their work. So many small but critical details. I would definitely love to hear about their work with fluorine chemistry as well. I wonder if they work with ClF3? It would probably not be as terrifying to someone who is used to working with aggressive alkali metals. I was also intrigued by the very large freezer that said the contents are radioactive. I hope it doesn’t contain ampules with pure Cs-137 😅

[@JohnDDK]

Oh my god. I just checked out his fluorineisgreat KZbin channel. It has several videos with ClF3 and even BrF3. I think I’m in love 🥰 😂

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! It was a pleasure listening to him explain the process. As you found out yourself, they do work with ClF3 and BrF3 (The stuff you saw in the fume hood in the beginning was BrF3 with some leftover bromine as an impurity). There was no Cs-137 in that fridge ;). I have only seen a small amount of it, but as far as I can tell, it was mainly used for different uranium and thorium compounds. Yes, his channel is great! Definitely worth checking out! Sadly, most videos are relatively low quality. I hope that I will be able to refilm some of the awesome things he did.

[@SciDOCMBC]

There is even a video on KZbin in which Prof. Dr. Kraus shows his lab to highschool students, including fluorlab. Unfortunately it is in German.

[@loberd09]

Loved this video. When I was in grad school I was going to work in a lab that used a lot of alkali metals and exotic elements but decided to leave. Also "low temperature" in that lab was about 600C and they'd go up to I think 4,000 or 5,000C for their reactions. have always wanted to do air sensitive work since then (haven't had a chance). Amazing video and great explanations.

[@SignalDitch]

This was an awesome lab tour. Thank you for getting such a good video, and thanks to Prof. Dr. Kraus for taking the time to thoroughly explain everything. I bet he has some good lab stories.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! Yes, he mentioned a few situations while showing me the lab and I would love to hear some more of his lab stories.

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Sure! However, I can't talk about that in public. ;-)

[@crabmansteve6844]

This is an incredible lab, thank you and the professor for this kind of access. Not something we get to see often. This stuff, especially in this quantity is only ever seen in industry or academia. Part of me feels like those ampoules should be stored in a box, nested in form fitting closed cell foam. Just the thought of Rummaging around in a drawer full of alkali metals makes my butt pucker.

[@nolansykinsley3734]

I just keep coming back. I have watched this video probably 10 times and I cannot get over it, it is simply amazing. I love chemistry and also have a special place in my heart for glassblowing, seeing the two come together in such a spectacular way is truly inspiring. I wish I could make a living as a scientific glassblower, dream job of mine but I have literally no skill in the field, just a pipe dream if you will.

[@coldfinger459sub0]

Every high school and college chemistry enthusiast or DYI is drooling in envy over this selection. Every kid or adult likes child who likes fire and explosions and performing chemical reactions would be in heaven with this treasure trove

[@Funkycharms69]

Super interested in his fluorine chemistry setup. This might be one of the best inorganic research lab videos related to Alkali metals I have had the opportunity to see.

[@nomcopterlabs]

What a cool video! I would absolutely like to see more of his lab and procedures. Really cool to see how that last bit of purity can be squeezed out when you have the need and the resources to do so. I think I can use the pouring idea as well to make some cleaner NaK ampoules even without a proper vacuum/argon flushing setup.

[@MARKE911]

This is amazing to see this.the custom glassware and the process is way beyond what I expected. I felt nervous watching. Thank you.

[@WobblycogsUk]

What an amazing video, I'd love to see more of his work. Those draws full of ampules of rubidium and caesium made me nervous.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! I will try to arrange another meeting with Prof. Kraus.

[@TACCOFSX]

the infos on the glovebox and how it can kill certain chemicals was really eye opening

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Indeed. You often don't think about the fact, that a glovebox is far from a perfect inert environment.

[@terrydavis8451]

As a glassblower who makes bongs I am in awe of the skills of the lampworkers.

[@artcox2991]

Absolutely loved seeing these techniques for working with the more reactive alkali metals. Thanks!

[@electricalychalanged4911]

Fascinating. I am working in a research lab for Li and Na Batteries. Seeing all these complecated destilation apparatus makes clear to me why we do not purify all our alkali metals ourself. We also have super pure Li. Very cool Video.

[@hunterm9]

Sorry for reviving an old comment, but what lab do you work at? I'm also working in battery lab at the moment

[@BackMacSci]

This channel makes nerds very happy.

[@zyeborm]

caesium plasma torroid when? ;-)

[@BackMacSci]

@@zyeborm hahah maybe happen this year?

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I am absolutely down for that!

[@TheZombieSaints]

Some of the distilling equipment he mentioned... Mind blown 🤯 wicked video

[@Phred_Phlintstoner]

Awesome video! I would love to see anything you would setup with this professor in the future! The knowledge shared with us between the two of you is amazing! You definitely gained a new subscriber!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you very much! I appreciate it!

[@ericcarabetta1161]

I'm equally fascinated by all the super elaborate glass contraptions they just have lying around.

[@chuckvanderbildt]

Rummaging around in a drawer full of cesium/rubidium ampoules 😬

[@darkmf666]

Yeah I feel that those ampoules should probably be stored a little better protected... :D

[@ogonbio8145]

Keep crying. This guy probably has a PhD.

[@darkmf666]

@@ogonbio8145 The physicists working on the demon core in Los Alamos probably also had a PhD. Its not like that kept them safe from a slipping screwdriver making it go critical. Smart people make mistakes all the time. I don't need to have a PhD to imagine its sub ideal to store glass containers like that. Besides perhaps my original remark was partly in jest :)

[@ogonbio8145]

@@darkmf666 honestly, I just like the spectacle of it, and they probably do too. 😂

[@Fluorineisgreat]

@@darkmf666 Nah, they sit on sand in a cabinet that withstands 90 minutes in a fire. Perfect place ;-)

[@mastonlyons8878]

Thank you for posting this amazing video!

[@Glock_Maw]

This channel is a hidden gem

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! :)

[@peterwoolliams1283]

Could watch Prof Kaus all afternoon!

[@ChemicalForce]

0:26 XeF2 😍 Cool video and cool equipment!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Yes! First time for me to see a noble gas compound in person. I may be able to film the synthesis of a halogenfluoride (hopefully ClF3) in the future. Maybe there is, at some point, the opportunity to film the preparation of XeF2.

[@saadahmad21]

Where is our xenon video mr chemicalforce :D

[@ChemicalForce]

​@@saadahmad21

[@andryjborys5789]

Fantastic video! Those ampoules and canisters of alkali-metals are amazing!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thanks! Yes, they are impressive. I would love to see them distill the cesium out of the large canister.

[@establisha]

loved thiis video, and would love to see a second video with this professor! keep the great content up!

[@aaronclair4489]

Wonderful video, thank you for making it. I subscribed to both your channel and Prof. Dr. Kraus' channel.

[@aaronclair4489]

Dude. Your channel is great.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[@dielaborratten]

Prof. Dr. Kraus ist der beste💪 super netter und kompetenter Professor

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Definitiv! Euer Video ist auch super! Vor allem die Synthese von BrF3 sieht man nicht alle Tage.

[@dielaborratten]

@@AdvancedTinkering danke 😊

[@vaheakli4551]

Beautiful! I do want another video with him

[@-feonix48-47]

Holy shit I know this guy is _the_ expert but he’s reeeeaaaallly comfortable being around that much pure cesium

[@-feonix48-47]

I would NOT be holy shit

[@Fluorineisgreat]

There are worse - much worse - things in life.

[@torydavis10]

I stumbled across fluorineisgreat a few years ago, it's pretty well the best&only place I know on youtube to see bricks burn. If you plan to play with him some more and potentially do some inappropriate fluorine chemistry with your much better camera I'd be stoked.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

Smuggled rubidium? I didn't even know people did that. Great video!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

As far as I know, it is smuggled to sell it to gullible people as an investment. Of course, cesium and rubidium are expensive, but they have virtually no value because the demand worldwide is incredibly low. Thanks!

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

@@AdvancedTinkering that's kinda hilarious

[@petevenuti7355]

@@AdvancedTinkering like tellurium?

[@victordonchenko4837]

Everything that wasn't nailed down in the Soviet bloc was basically sold off during decommunization.

[@antejl7925]

@@victordonchenko4837 yes that is what I am thinking, it was something stolen in the DDR. .

[@puo2123]

Amazing video! Please also do a video on Uranium and Thorium chemistry with him.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you!

[@puo2123]

@@AdvancedTinkering you might also be able to make a video about the institute where i do my thesis. We have heavier element like Np, Pu, Am...

[@AdvancedTinkering]

@@puo2123 I hope to meet with him again to make videos about his other projects. Sounds very interesting. In which institute are you doing your thesis? The problem is that it can't be too far away. With the channel I don't earn nearly enough to afford longer trips :D.

[@puo2123]

@@AdvancedTinkering it is the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Karlsruhe. Or in german "Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung" at the KIT.

[@Ink_Tide]

Fluorine is indeed great. Truly fascinating to learn about the role of moisture inclusions in the caesium/PTFE reaction - really makes me want to see if caesium reacts readily with more fluorinated carbon compounds like perfluoromethane, since breaking the "strongest bond in organic chemistry" is pretty useful.

[@GTS00000]

Excellent, pleas more of this dude

[@frittensindkunst2837]

Great stuff, would love to see a vid about fluorine!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you! I can't promise it, but I hope I will be able to film another video about fluorine at his lab.

[@EliasExperiments]

Wow super spectacular video! Those amounts of Rb and Cs are just mind blowing. Also that idea with the ultrasonic bath, Cs and Teflonpowder really needs to be tetsted. :D

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Be careful ;-)

[@EliasExperiments]

@@Fluorineisgreat Haha, if you want to join us, I would love that!

[@chrisjones-fp5vd]

Awesome! Would love more of this

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thanks! I will try my best!

[@pabstkkx]

@@AdvancedTinkering and include the Professor as well if possible please. Really sympatic Dude and great in explaining!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

@@pabstkkx I will. Yes he is a great person and you immediately know he loves what he does.

[@Nick-ed4uh]

Very interesting to see how professionals work with the alkaline metals, I see it's not too different from how you do it! I'm personally very curious about the one alkaline metal that is mentioned but not shown in the video and that is lithium. I need a very pure sample for an experiment I'm performing and for this purpose I've welded a steel destillation apparatus together (because I found out glass is less than ideal) to be placed in a vacuum oven with different temperature zones. I will construct a glove box to connect to the vacuum oven to extract the lithium and perform my experiment. I was planning to have a hot plate with magnetic stirrer to heat up a pressure cooker without the lid that contains molten lithium to absorb anything that could otherwise react with my destilled lithium. After the experiment I can put the lid on to safely store it. If you could ask professor Kraus to show his steel and tantalum lithium destillation apparatus and his hot plate with lithium granules next time you visit him I would really appreciate it, and I think it would make an interesting video. Thanks!

[@GodlikeIridium]

Amazing interesting video!

[@kingnotail3838]

This was truly *amazing*

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you!

[@joleif4970]

This was awesome!

[@edgeeffect]

That's interesting, I've always thought of getters as just a way of maintaining high vacuum... I've never considered that you could use a getter to absorb a particular containment in a distillation.... And, wooooah, that's something of an amazing piece of glassware - respect to the glassblower who has to repair these over and over again.

[@crazyscience4490]

This video made me sub. Keep up the good stuff!

[@thetruthexperiment]

I love the color of cesium.

[@Ambient_Scenes]

This is really cool, but also slightly terrifying. Great video.

[@chuckvanderbildt]

I love that the argon cylinder at the end is labeled ARRRGON.

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Pirates everywhere!

[@gerardbroek1943]

More lab humor with the discolights and the safety sticker of 'do not touch... it will hurt while dying'.

[@kmagnussen1052]

WOW! More please.

[@jamesg1367]

Fantastic!

[@scottrob85]

Yes, very interested!!!

[@christopherleubner6633]

Remember using a canister identical to one of those big rubidium containers for filling up the cooling system of an large E-beam evaporator a while back. It held NaK liquid metal alloy and used about half the container worth. 🤓

[@JackHudler]

This was excellent!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thank you!

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

yes! more videos please!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I will try to make it happen!

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

@@AdvancedTinkering Thank you! I've nearly got my master's in chem but never had much to do with alkali metal chemistry / inorganic chemistry. This is quite novel and i doubt many people have ever seen something like this.

[@mattharvey8712]

Bravo............I'm am amazed u touch in .......cheers

[@Mezuzah87]

5:00 Love how they store the large very heavy bottles above the thin delicate tubes, opposite the way it should be.

[@weekendstuff]

Nice process shown here. Weekend Stuff

[@johnmcclane4430]

Very interesting, liked it very much.

[@GodlikeIridium]

31:40 That's something lots of chemists and lab workers struggle to understand with gloveboxes and dessicators. Those are dryer than the very humid outside, but not completely dry, which they usually believe. Evertime you open a dessicator, you exchange the air inside and have outside humidity in it. The drying of that air takes very long and will never be fully dry. AND if you put something more hygroscopic than silica gel or your drying agent in it, it will just dry your drying agent instead of the correct way 😂

[@chicoroth8679]

very, very impressive.

[@JustAnotherAlchemist]

You know you're a true nerd when you chuckle at the thought of drying agents getting dried out by your reagent. 😂

[@Jonodrew1286]

Wow so awesome - the closest I have got is reacting Mg with NaOH - it is crude but works -That lab wow!! Lots of plumbing !! Very well explained, Professor, Doctor and Teacher 🙏🙏🙏👌👍 I was curious, I have heard that AlLiH4 is also pretty sensitive to moisture..

[@mikeconnery4652]

A great video on how these processes are done. Not that I really completely understand. Still interesting.

[@bladdnun3016]

I have gotten rid of 100 g of encrusted sodium by cutting it into small pieces and letting it sit on the bench overnight in a metal tub. It completely reacted with and dissolved in the water it drew from the atmosphere. Seems way safer than quenching it in Toluene + iPrOH or whatever, as long as you can make sure nobody else is working in the same space.

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Yes, keeping away organics is a very good idea, we also dispose alkali metals in the way you describe it.

[@ionamygdalon2263]

Chemiolis mentioned your video and here I am :)

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I hope you enjoy your stay :)

[@christopherleubner6633]

The gas cleaner is very similar to the buffer gas scrubber for a MOCVD machine. Definitely want a follow up re Fluorine chemistry 😁

[@Tomas_Prucha]

Interesting video!

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Thanks! It was a great day and really interesting.

[@rupantaradhikary]

More like this videos 😊

[@Alexander666W]

supergeiles Video. schau mal ob du bei den nächsten nicht für dich und dein Interviewpartner ein kleines Mikrofon bekommst

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Vielen Dank! Ja, ich habe unterschätzt, wie laut die Absaugung in dem Labor sein wird. Ich habe die Tonspur versucht zu bereinigen, aber mehr war leider nicht möglich. Für das nächste mal werde ich ein Ansteckmikrofon besorgen.

[@berlinberlin4246]

@@AdvancedTinkering und vielleicht trotzdem einen zweiten audio recorder als Backup mitlaufen lassen? Super Video Inhalt! Bitte mehr davon.

[@chevy5Gen]

thanks

[@educatedmanholecoverbyrich8890]

Fascinating. Thank you so very much.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I'm glad you liked the video!

[@rodrigograss3580]

This video has not nearly enough the views it deserves

[@metalblack4697]

Fluorine chemistry! Yeah! Please 😁

[@douro20]

Some interesting cans that rubidium came in. They look like they might be aluminium? And why would someone want to smuggle such a thing?

[@JPMontello]

I made cesium azide before! I was too lazy to decompose it in a test tube (and I was worried of residual water being in the cesium azide and blowing up the test tube) but I burned it and it burned with a beautiful purple color!

[@wither8]

This is SO cool. What about hydrogen embrittlement concerns for the container on last stage of the argon stage?

[@KallePihlajasaari]

I would think that it is not going to be a problem. The only critical component was the Quartz tube so should not matter. As for metals it may weaken the shell a little over the years but selecting a suitable metal would reduce any potential danger. It might be a problem if there was a requirement for very critical hardness or strength parameters. Also the amount of H2 is low.

[@owluitar]

If I remember correctly, FLiBe Energy is proposing a UF6 fluorination process in his molten salt reactor designs. Kirk Sorensen has been a proponent of this type of tech for a long time.

[@omegacentauri9634]

Du machst echt super Videos, macht echt spaß dir zuzugucken. Immer weiter so👍 Vielleicht hast du ja mal Lust die Exotherme Reaktion von Basenanhydriden und Säureanhydriden zu zeigen sowas wie Li2O + MoO3 oder Na2O + P4O10 oder BaO + B2O3 nur so jetzt als Beispiele. Würde mich wirklich mal interessieren und gabs in dieser Form glaub auch noch nicht auf KZbin.

[@theafro]

Probably the coolest glassware on youtube, and then they use it to boil scary metals in, what's not to like?

[@sch1nken]

43:20 Nice Disco light on this equipment :D

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Our music is even better

[@myLEDTV]

Ein sehr tolles Video und vielen Dank für den Content. Ich frage mich nur warum ich wegen jeder Ethanolflasche und Dose Bremsenreiniger einen mega aufstand mit Gefahrstoffliste, Datenblatt, Gefährdungspotential und Betriebsanweisung mache. Und da liegen die Cäsium-Ampullen in einer Ramschkiste in der Schublade kreuz und quer übereinander. Bissel gefährlich ist das schon, oder?

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Vielen Dank! Der Schrank ist feuergeschützt und Borosilikatglas ist überraschend robust. Solange man die Ampullen also sorgsam handhabt, besteht keine Gefahr.

[@Cineenvenordquist]

Immediately I am struck with a new impression of Marie Curie dodging 3 M fireballs of varying intensity as she finds out which equipment is ok to work with, but it's not true, bending toward optics and chirality over samples of ? pitchblende ? polonium and radium.

[@Muonium1]

42:00 *ARRRGON* - This was the argon smuggled to Germany by the pirates back in the 1980s.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Haha! The best argon there is!

[@PeterPete]

And there was me thinking this video was about the production and purification of alkali metals when in fact the video is about Prof. Dr. Florian Kraus' laboratory and what he does with alkali metals.

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Mh... but the main part of the video is about the production of cesium and rubidium and the distillation of those metals to purify them. And the purification of potassium and sodium. What was it, that you are missing?

[@JinKee]

1:38 is there anything you can't put in a schott bottle?

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Yes. All hydrolizable fluorides such as MF6 (M = Mo, W, U, Tc, Re, Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pt, ...), XeF4 is especially bad, the halogen florides ...

[@theHiddenStone]

How do they store all the crazy glassware?

[@tokajileo5928]

do they have NaK in larger quantities like liters?

[@greenefieldmann3014]

Dammit I did not have time for this but here we go...

[@unknown-ql1fk]

This is great and im not a pro-chemist

[@Cristi0986]

I whant to SEE more video about lab

[@Dpknox]

What was the value of the confiscated rubidium?

[@simonlinser8286]

wow what a cool and dangerous facility

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Cool yes, dangerous - certainly not ;-)

[@Wtfinc]

When you realize the scientist has been saying “shitty”

[@Fluorineisgreat]

At 44 min and ca. 40 sec I tell nonsense, the Ti sponge is not reacting with N2 at these temperatures. 1200 °C would be required, which you can't do in a silica tube. However, the N2 content in Ar 4.8 is below or equal to 10 ppm, so it doesn't matter for us.

[@mikebeatstsb7030]

This shit is fascinating

[@JohnMeacham]

Do you think it is possible to recover neodymium metal from chipped or crushed neodymium magnets?

[@Fluorineisgreat]

Yes, depending on what efforts you want to go through.

[@iQKyyR3K]

This once again confirms my suspicion that the internet actually just consists of German speakers talking to other German speakers in English.

[@gavinlamar823]

Where do you buy your cesium chloride that you used in your other videos and how much was it per gram?

[@AdvancedTinkering]

I bought it from a German seller (s3-chemicals). The price of course depends on the amount you buy. 100 g are 40 €.

[@gavinlamar823]

Thanks, good job on the video, really interesting.

[@Nagria2112]

god i wish i could work there. =( glaubst du es ist möglich so einen Job als Chemielabortechniker zu bekommen oder muss man da studieren?