Extracting strontium with a microwave

We destroy something beautiful in order to extract some delightful strontium ions. Twitter: / explosions_fire
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Paper: Direct conversion of celestine to SrS by microwave heating
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Music taken from the Aphex Twin Soundcloud dump that happened..... several years ago now I think. I hate to think about the passing of time lol

[@srub2707]

I was so mentally stuck on kitchen appliances that when you said you were going to add CO2 to the solution, I jumped straight to "yes, put it in a sodastream you madman"

[@nedf2357]

I see Tom got bored of the ice cream maker. Time to move onto an appliance that can do some chemistry

[@Darkshadows9776]

You roaming the wilderness for carbon is like an Australian wizard trying to find supplies for their potion.

[@part7]

As a non-chemist, i've been wracking my brain wondering where i know of uses for strontium from, because i knew it wasn't the fireworks example. It took me 30 minutes of going through all the chemistry youtube videos i've watched over the years to finally remember.

[@LiaLia0407]

"i genuinely forget how fun this is"

[@thebeardprevails5246]

Rusty hammer crystals and matress carbon. This is the kind of production quality that keeps me coming back.

[@matthewkatz7320]

Haha, I'm a ceramic glaze designer and was literally sitting here editing Strontium glazes as this video came up. Its amazing in glazes, with great textures and color reactions. It functions as one of the two fluxes used in ceramic glazes, so they are still alumino-silicate glasses, but the Alkaline Earth contributions dictate the specific crystal structures in matte glazes and the color reactions. That said, Strontium is not that popular in my field, but I like it a lot.

[@anguskeenan4932]

I love how Tom could 100% just check the maximum possible heat stress (whatever you call it) numbers online and know if porcelain is actually suitable for this use, but he just choose not

[@RealShebang]

I love this channel (and E&F) because its like how we'd have to do science in a post apocalyptic settings without access to any good tools.

[@GlassVulture]

Feral science where one ghathers their wicked magic ingredients from the wild and uses abstract utensil to create magic rocks is my favourite genre

[@anjalpaudel8713]

People come to this channel to think its a chemistry channel, but they couldnt be more wrong! Today i learned of geology of Madagascar, I learned of the wild habitats of australia's snakes, we went on an adventure to the outbacks to mine for the ancient reagent called Carbon, learned a lot about kitchen appliances, learned about pottery and its limits, as well as a life lesson to not frown when things dont go your way all the time. Tom, i think you can single handedly teach all high school subjects, and half of the college majors available from just one video!

[@ZeroGum]

When you were microwaving the powder and its just fracturing the pottery, all I could think of was the old youtube series "Is it a good idea to microwave this?" and that time they almost died with the Airbag.

[@joshuabuilds3051]

I reckon all this backyard chemistry is useful for identifying deadly smells out and about. When theres a deadly refrigerant leak at the grocery store you can be the one that says "Hey I know that smell. We have about 4 minutes."

[@roriegilligan8134]

Microwave based processes are an area of recent research in mineral processing. A friend did a PhD on using microwaves for the calcination and acid baking of spodumene (lithium-aluminium silicate). Microwave assisted grinding is a thing too - different minerals heat up differently on microwave irradiation and the different degrees of expansion lead to microfractures at grain boundaries, reducing the amount of energy needed for grinding and improving the degree of separation in downstream beneficiation processes.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

That's the smallest ball media I've ever seen used in a mill. 3-4x that size would work much better for you.

[@birhon]

I love how you constantly oscillate between being an advanced chemist and acting like you have no idea what you're about to do or how you got here.

[@meosalami5180]

As a glass nerd, THANK YOU so much for mentioning strontium carbonate as a raw material for crt screen production. The strontium ions also prevented browning, i.e. the actual decoloration of the glass by the radiation ... 🤓

[@mersilvaureus1525]

If my understanding of Australian chemistry is correct, the porcelain would have held together better if you said "she'll be right".

[@storminmormin14]

The potassium contamination almost certainly came from your free reagent. The word “potassium” literally derived from “pot”+”ash”+”-ium”. Burning wood and then washing the charcoal with water is literally how we got the name for the element.

[@Drjtherrien]

As a materials scientist I shed a small tear watching Tom smash up some nice looking crystals. But the processing steps, abuse of a kitchen microwave and brilliant red flame test more than made up for it. Nice work! I'm starting to think of what minerals are near me that you could get something interesting out of. And indeed there is; a nearby town has deposits of scheelite - a source of tungsten. Maybe that'll be a summer project.