Posted by admin | Posted in Herbs Botanicals | Posted on 07-06-2011
Tags: beauty, health, organic, powder, powder organic, powder organic coating, powder organic greens, powder organic soy milk, powdered organic dye, shopping
How do I efficiently destroy a kilo of "mystery" organic powder?
I will assume this is a serious question and will answer in three parts. First part, I will assume you are in industry or in academia and you have the resources to get this done. The second part I will answer the question as if you were a layperson who just wants a clue to a common household chemical that what you have on hand. The third part I will answer first. If you think it is an illegal contraband, inform the police and let them handle it. If you can't, flush it down the toilet. Now for the other two cases.
Since you stated that it is “organic”, I surmise that this is a school assignment since not many of us can determine by sight whether a substance is organic or not.
If you know it is organic for a fact, you can test the melting point of the solid by placing a small amount in a glass capillary and you gradually raise the temperature, possibly in a mineral oil heated bath. Assuming it is pure and not a mixture, it will give you the melting point of the substance. If it is a mixture, you may see a more gradual phase change where one phase melts and then the other. Or the second phase is then dissolved by the first.
To be certain that it is not a complex mixture, you can attempt to separate it by dissolving it in an organic solvent and separate it by liquid chromatography, preferably by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatograph).
Once the species have been separated or verified to be only one component, you can use FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) to determine the compound. This procedure will give you the "signature" of the molecule. You can then search a library of hundreds of thousands organic compounds to look for a match. Another tool is NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy).
If it is a polymer and you need to know the molecular number or weight, you may need to do mass spectroscopy.
Now, if you are a layperson, the best you can do is guess. Here is my simple suggestion (which is by no means fool proof).
(1) Using a small sample, see whether it is soluble in water -- how it interacts with water. Does it dissolve? Does it form a colloid or emulsion? Does it resemble any common household substance when mixed with water, such as flour or sugar or creamer? If cold water does work, how about hot water? (Creamer will dissolve much faster in hot but in cold, you can see that it “bleeds” somewhat. This would be a sign that it is a complex semi-soluble or partially “fatty” and partially “polar” compound.
(2) Test the pH of the water/powder mixture. You can get some from a pet store for aquariums or for swimming pool supply store. This would let you know whether there are acid groups (such as carboxyls such as acetic acid or citric acid) or basic groups (such as amines and amides).
(3) Look under a magnifying glass or microscope the crystal structure of the compound. Compare it to common household products.
(4) This would be dangerous if you were not almost certain it was not a poison – taste and smell – spit it out afterwards and wash your mouth completely if you suspect it to be unfamiliar.
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