There is white phosphorus that you store in oil, and red phosphorus
that you store in water, or
the other way around. ... Just don't mix them up! The one you store
in oil can actually grab
the oxygen it needs to oxidize out of the water.
It has been so many years since I played much in a chem lab. I leave it to
others in case it is needed now! Still understanding the basics enriches life,
but that can be said for so many fields.
Looking on Wikipedia, it looks like white phosphorus is not soluble in water,
and was used in making napalm (a favorite tool back in the Vietnam war days).
On one chemical supply house site, it says that white phosphorus may be
transported and/or stored in an aqueous bath (under water). White phosphorus
is used in making flares and agricultural chemicals.
The red phosphorus does not spontaneously combust in air until 240C.
Kind of out of the range of normal environmentals. It is used to make
matches easy to strike, etc, and is susceptible to ignition my sparks.
To slow its oxidation, it looks like storage in an oil or rare gas is normal.
Reading, it appears there are two more allotropes of phosphorus, violet and
black. Reading this reminds me why I enjoyed inorganic chemistry.
Enjoy.
IHS ... Jack
On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 11:53 PM, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:
> Yes plastic is fine for transit, and to store it some months, but not
> several years.
>
> The phosphorus was in some kind of oil, not water, water would ignite it.
>
> ST
>