In a message dated 3/30/2013 5:59:18 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
bitsyboffin@... writes:
Note that the Aluminium + Sodium Hydroxide reaction is how one produces
large quantities of hydrogen without time consuming electrolysis.
For what it's worth, I tried to use Sodium Hydroxide solution in a glass
bottle and added some pieces of aluminum to make hydrogen gas to fill small
balloons with.
The sodium Hydroxide reacts very aggressively with aluminum and it was easy
for the reaction to heat up too much and turn into foam and overflow from
the bottle
into the balloon. Also the reaction produced a lot of steam and would tend
to fill up the
balloon with water vapor also. If you tried to dilute the Sodium Hydroxide
too much
it would slow down the reaction to a crawl, so it was a fine line to find
just the right
dilution of Sodium Hydroxide that would dissolve the aluminum without
heating up
too much. Also to do it right you would need some kind of drying tube to
remove all
the water vapor from the hydrogen gas.
In any case the Sodium Hydroxide is not predictable stuff to work with!
That stuff gets
hot easily when it reacts with aluminum! I stay away from it. Outdoor use
only!
Best Regards, Todd WD4NGG