r/homechemistry

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to make my own silver clay because I want to eventually make a silver ring for my girlfriend, but I’ve been struggling badly with the binder.
My starting material is metallic silver that I’ve converted/recovered and dried. I’m trying to combine the silver powder with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and water to make a workable clay/paste that can later be dried and sintered.
I’ve tried several approaches:
• Adding a CMC solution slowly to the silver powder.
• Drying the silver first and then mixing it into an already-prepared CMC solution.
• Mixing the CMC and silver as dry powders before adding water.
• Adding CMC gradually to the silver/water mixture.
The main problem is ALWAYS the same: the CMC forms small hydrated lumps/clumps. These lumps seem to grab silver particles, become very thick/hard, and I end up with little pieces of CMC-rich material throughout the paste instead of a homogeneous clay.
I’ve also noticed that my silver powder is somewhat dark/grey, and the resulting paste looks darker than commercial silver clay, so I’m wondering whether the state of the silver matters — metallic silver vs silver oxide, particle size, particle morphology, etc.
My questions are:

1. What is the best way to hydrate CMC without creating these lumps?
2. Would methyl cellulose be better than CMC for silver clay?
3. Is it better to prepare a very dilute binder solution first and then incorporate the silver powder?
4. Does the particle size/morphology of the silver powder matter a lot?
5. Should I be using metallic silver powder, or is silver oxide ever used as the starting material?
6. For someone trying to make a workable DIY silver clay, what binder system would you recommend?
   I’m particularly interested in advice from anyone who has actually made homemade silver/metal clay rather than just commercial PMC/Art Clay.
   I’m trying to get a smooth, homogeneous clay that doesn’t contain little CMC gel lumps.
   Thanks!
   Also i face problema with the texture that turns shewing gum like some times, and it keeps puffing up when anhilated i think its be cause of cmc decompoaition

I’ve been trying to order chemicals for a project at home, but I’ve ran into problems ordering because they’ll only ship to a commercial address. I unfortunately work from home so I can’t ship it to my “work”. Anyone else run into this issue?

Hello Everyone,

I would like to raise the ethanol abv% back to 200 proof to extract oils. I have 4a molecular sieves. My understanding is molecular sieve has fine powder. I need that filtered out. I have slow filters, but micron isn't low enough.

After some research I learned Diatomaceous earth filter aid is required to filter the fine powder and cost effective. I'm confused on which grade D.E. to use. Google says celite 545 works and another search says it's ineffective. Would appreciate any clarification.

Also any de product for my situation you recommend or where to get?

Thanks again 🤘🏾

[supprimé]

Hello, I’ve been thinking about making a web fluid shooter (like Spider-Mans one), but when I’ve seen the options for making web fluid I’m a little confused. Some of them look let’s say bad, and the most popular combo is Fabri-Tac + Acetone/nail polish remover. I thought it looked really cool but when I asked ChatGPT it said that it’s dangerous for skin and eyes and breathing it in may cause heavy health problems and if I really want to use it then only outside. What do you guys think? Is it actually dangerous? Is there a safer also good looking alternative? Also of course I wanna make that light web that floats in the air, not a strong web to hold a person lol. Thanks for any advice!

hey, I wanted to try to make bleach from scratch at home. I worked at a bleach plant for a while so I am familiar with the process, but I don't have a membrane system to separate the Cl2 very well. Would I need to get one if I wanted to collect some Cl2 for the process?

Also, does anyone know a good at home chem thing to buy that would let me bubble the captured cl2 into some 50% NaOH? There will be a lot of salt precipitating out of the reaction, so I can't just run a tube to the bottom of some glassware. Btw, I have absolutely nothing yet. I have done simple at home experiments like burning different things to get colored fires, but I moved from home now so no glassware and back at ground 0.

Any recommendations for a good electrolysis?

As the above mentions I’m looking at replacing my old one which I got off my grandfather years and years back. For those who know what would you do recommend?

Thanks

Hey homechem fam,

If I wanted to use ozone to oxidize a certain chemical to convert it, let’s say a barrel of the said chemical, how would I go about doing that?

Would I run an ozone machine from a tube into the lid of the barrel to the bottom of the barrel to bubble up ozone, and then seal around the inlet hole about 95% to keep a small ventilation window so the ozone mixture doesn’t cause buildup of gas and air pressure inside the barrel? I could also seal it completely then drill another small hole in the lid so gas can escape.

Separately, the directions say to heat it under reflux, what would be the cost of a gentle reflux instead of where the barrel isn’t sealed 100% but has a small outlet hole to let gases escape (I think the barrel would blow up or spit out the tube if it were sealed completely).

The chemical I am looking to convert via oxidizing has a boiling point of 55C. So I shouldn’t run into issues of the plastic barrel melting, if I run a heating stick into the barrel to get it barely to boiling point (plastic melts around 160C, so I have a fairly large window so that the heat will not melt the plastic).

For the heating stick/element, to put into the barrel (like a hot tub stick or something), what lab equipment name would I google? I can’t find what my mind has envisioned to use. I call it heating stick, but my chemical bonds/reacts with metal, so I will have to use all hdpe parts, rubber, ceramic is okay. I would put the heating stick into the barrel to keep the temperature near 55C until the reaction is done. I’m not sure how long it would take, probably a few hours to a few days. Any links to such a device would be appreciated.

Please leave any helpful comments or message me if you have any experience using ozone to oxidize a chemical in order to convert it. Thanks, fam.