Rubidium alums hydroxide

Rubidium-alaun, m. rubidium alum, -chlorid, n. rubidium chloride, -jodid, n. rubidium iodide, -oxydhydrat, n. rubidium hydroxide, -platinchlorid, n. rubidium chloroplatinate. 

Rubidium alum obtained by either method above is decomposed by treatment with alkali solutions for removal of aluminum and sulfate. Aluminum is precipitated as aluminum hydroxide. Addition of barium hydroxide to the filtrate removes sulfate, precipitating barium sulfate. Evaporation of the solution crystallizes rubidium as hydroxide. 

Alternatively, Rb sulfate may be obtained by treating a hot solution of rubidium aluminum sulfate (rubidium alum) with ammonia solution. Aluminum hydroxide precipitates. The product mixture is fdtered. The filtrate on evaporation crystaUizes rubidium sulfate. 

Rubidium acid salts are usually prepared from rubidium carbonate or hydroxide and the appropriate acid in aqueous solution, followed by precipitation of the crystals or evaporation to dryness. Rubidium sulfate is also prepared by the addition of a hot solution of barium hydroxide to a boiling solution of rubidium alum until all the aluminum is precipitated. The pH of the solution is 7.6 when the reaction is complete. Aluminum hydroxide and barium sulfate are removed by filtration, and rubidium sulfate is obtained by concentration and crystallization from the filtrate. Rubidium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate [7488-54-2] (alum), RbA SO 12H20, is formed by sulfuric acid leaching of lepidolite ore. Rubidium alum is more soluble than cesium alum and less soluble than the other alkali alums. Fractional crystallization of Rb alum removes K, Na, and Li values, but concentrates the cesium value. Rubidium hydroxide, RbOH, is prepared by the reaction of rubidium sulfate and barium hydroxide in solution. The insoluble barium sulfate is removed by filtration. The solution of rubidium hydroxide can be evaporated partially in pure nickel or silver containers. Rubidium hydroxide is usually supplied as a 50% aqueous solution. Rubidium carbonate, Rb2C03, is readily formed by bubbling carbon dioxide through a solution of rubidium hydroxide, followed by evaporation to dryness in a fluorocarbon container. Other rubidium compounds can be formed in the laboratory by means of anion-exchange techniques. Table 4 lists some properties of common rubidium compounds. 

Uses Of the Stassfurt salts.—The magnesium compounds in the Stassfurt salts are used for the preparation of magnesium and of its salts. The potash salts are an essential constituent of many fertilizers used in agriculture, etc. 22 and potassium chloride is the starting-point for the manufacture of the many different kinds of potassium salts used in commerce—carbonate, hydroxide, nitrate, chlorate, chromate, alum, ferrocyanide, cyanide, iodide, bromide, etc. Chlorine and bromine are extracted by electrolysis and other processes from the mother liquids obtained in the purification of the potash salts. Boric acid and borax are prepared from boracite. Caesium and rubidium are recovered from the crude carnallite and sylvite. 

An intimate mixture ot 274 grms. of rubidium iron alum, or 260 grms. of rubidium aluminium alum with 100 grms. of calcium carbonate, and 27 grms. of ammonium chloride, is heated in a nickel crucible to a dull red heat until ammonia vapours are no longer evolved, and then the temp, is raised to redness. The product is ground with a litre of cold water for 15 minutes filtered by suction and washed with 400 c.c. of water, added in small portions at a time. The combined sulphuric acid is precipitated by the addition of barium hydroxide, and the filtered liquid boiled while a stream of carbon dioxide is passed through the soln. If the soln. loses its alkaline reaction, and yet retains some calcium, a little rubidium carbonate must be added to precipitate calcium carbonate. The soln. is then treated with hydrochloric acid and evaporated. 

The alkali sulphates can also be made by neutralizing, say, a soln. of 5 grms. of sulphuric acid in 30 c.c. of water with the alkali hydroxide or carbonate, and evaporating the soln. until crystals begin to form. The process is not economical except on a small scale. It is used mainly for lithium, rubidium, and caesium sulphates. H. Erdmann 20 treated a hot soln. of crude rubidium iron alum with milk of lime made from purified lime, and filtered the liquid from the excess of lime, calcium sulphate, and ferric hydroxide, by suction. The small amount of lime in soln. is precipitated by adding rubidium carbonate. The filtrate is neutralized with sulphuric acid, and evaporated to the point of crystallization. 

Biiltemann 2 observed that vanadium ammonium alum separates out in blue crystals from a solution containing sulphuric acid, but from solutions containing a weak acid, or from neutral solutions, red crystals are obtained. (The chromium alums can also be prepared in differently coloured modifications.) The analytical data, melting-point, electrical conductivity, rate of efflorescence, and general behaviour of both kinds of crystals are identical, so that it is difficult to ascribe different constitutions to them. Meyer and Markowitz3 have shown that both forms separate out when the molecular proportion of sulphuric acid in the solution is less than that theoretically required, and attribute the red colour to the presence of traces of vanadous oxide, V203, or its hydroxide, V(OH)3. Vanadium rubidium and vanadium ciesium alums behave in the same way. A vanadium guanidine alum has also been prepared.4... 

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