Resource Guide: Making SN with Sodium Nitrate and Aluminium At Home! ( + Bonus: How to extract SN from curing salt)

[Dying science gal]

Aluminum-Based Oxidation of Sodium Nitrate: A Simple Approach for Acquiring Sodium Nitrite (SN)
a_user et al, 2023​

This study explores a practical and safe method to produce sodium nitrite (SN), a chemical compound with diverse applications, by oxidizing aluminum with sodium nitrate. Amid increasing restrictions on SN due to safety issues, this method ensures accessibility to SN for legitimate uses. The experiment involves heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and aluminum, followed by dissolution, filtration, and re-heating, resulting in the production of SN. The project emphasizes the significance of maintaining access to SN for various crucial applications, offering a straightforward approach that can be safely conducted using common materials and equipment.

Background
Sodium nitRITE (NaNO2, hereafter abbreviated to SN) is a chemical compound that has been widely used in various industries and applications due to its unique properties. While its usage has become restricted in some jurisdictions due to safety concerns, such as the recent increase in popularity of SN being used for suicide, it is important to recognize the value and necessity of making SN accessible to individuals.

SN has a range of legitimate and essential applications across various sectors. It is crucial for food manufacturers as a food additive, ensuring food safety, extending shelf life, and maintaining quality in processed meats. In medicine, it plays a vital role in treating cyanide poisoning and methemoglobinemia. SN is also valuable in industrial settings, where it is used in manufacturing dyes, pigments, corrosion inhibitors, and rust prevention. Additionally, it contributes to agricultural and horticultural practices by serving as a nitrogen source in fertilizers and controlling pests. By allowing accessibility to sodium nitrite, individuals, such as amateur chemists and chefs, can an extremely enjoyable time working with SN safely. It is of my opinion that the prohibition of the distribution of SN is completely irrational for many reasons, of one being how easy it is to make out of non-restricted substances.

Note
TALLman lettering is employed throughout the article to prevent the confusion between sodium nitRITE and sodium nitRATE (mostly for myself so I don't get confused). In addition, the abbreviation, SN is employed solely for sodium nitRITE, and never used for sodium nitRATE. In addition, the discussion of whether if sodium nitRITE should be restricted, and whether if individuals have the right to a fast and peaceful exit is out of scope for this article for legal reasons. Nevertheless, it is critical that we understand that there are numerous indisputably legitimate and essential private uses of SN, and therefore, access to SN should be maintained.

The method utilized in this project has been determined by the results of this poll.

This article is split to two sections. First being a tested method of creating sodium nitRITE with aluminium and sodium nitRATE. The second is an untested method of extracting sodium nitRITE using curing salts based on solubility of SN and sodium chloride (table salt). This untested method will be posted in a comment after the publication of this article.

Goals
The goals of this experiment is to determine whether if it is possible to reliably oxidize aluminium with sodium nitRATE to create aluminium oxide and sodium nitRITE.

Reaction
3 NaNO3 + 2 Al ⟶ Al2 O3 + 3 NaNO2

Materials and Equipment
If you need help finding anything, let me know via a private message! If you want to substitute since you can't get something, feel free to send a comment and I can let you know if it would work!
1. Hot plate or other heating device like a stove (household is fine) or a bunsen burner
2. Good thermometer if you are not using a hot plate (Amazon carries those, you don't need one if you can make sure everything is under 300C)
3. Sodium nitRATE - 2-3x more than you want the product (SN) be, if you're confident you won't mess up.
4. Aluminium (Household foil is good enough. Be sure you didn't accidentally buy tin foil! Buy the cheapest ones your place sells since that is less likely to be contaminated - get two rolls just in case. Powder preferred!)
5. PPE
- Fume hood (preferred) or googles and N95+ mask if you don't want to breath in smelly fumes
- Gloves (Disposable)
- Lab coat if you have one on hand
6. Very clean water (distilled only! Make sure it has 0 added minerals. Reverse osmosis is NOT good. Tap water is NOT good. Regular household boiled water is NOT good. You can buy distilled water from any pharmacy or grocery store).
7. Borosilicate beakers or pans that you won't use after this.
8. Sodium nitrITE test strips (You can buy these from any pet shop)
9. Coffee filter/paper

Procedure
BEFORE STARTING ANY PROCEDURE, PUT ON PPE!
1. Sanitize all equipment. If you are using a pan, there can be absolutely NO oil on it!
2. Shred lots of aluminium foil (0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants)
3. Pour out sodium nitRATE (approx 2x the amount of sodium nitRITE you want to make).
4. Mix the sodium nitRATE with the aluminium in a beaker or pan. Mix it well!
5. Heat everything up. Keep it below 300C or else the SN could disintegrate! Heat it for 1 hour.
6. Once it is heated for one hour, add water to the container SLOWLY. Wait until all the powder is dissolved. Test the solution with the test paper to see if the amount of sodium nitRITE is satisfactory. If it is, stop to step 14.
7. Filter the solution though the coffee filter. Make sure only liquids pass through.
8. Boil the liquid and dispose of the filter and the stuff in it as household waste.
9. Once the liquid is boiled, add as little water as possible for everything in it to dissolve.
10. Use more aluminium foil to make a "box" with open top.
11. Put the liquid solution you have made in step 9 into the "box" and then scrunch up the "box", making sure that all the powder stays inside the "box". Make everything tight (not too tight. (If you need more explanation, drop a comment)
12. Heat up the scrunched up aluminium foil with the powder inside for 1 hour at less than 300C.
13. Skip to step 6 and repeat.
14. Filter the solution through the coffee filter, and then boil off the solution.
15. After boiling off the solution, you should be left with a powder. That powder should be sodium nitRITE!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send a comment below! I don't bite~

Disposal
Heat sodium nitRITE to 400C for sodium nitRITE to be decomposed to harmless chemicals. Then dispose in household rubbish. DO NOT dispose sodium nitRITE in household rubbish without decomposing first!

Testing
As of May 14, 2023, the SN produced as a part of this experiment has not yet been quantified. However, we plan to test the substance with FTIR spectrometry in the coming weeks. We will comment on this thread once the results are made available to us.

Images
We will add images in the near future!

Bonus: How to extract SN from curing salts - two methods:
Method 1: Solubility
Method 2: Melting

Now we learned how to make SN. Hmm. Thoughts on making a guide for making something nicer, like N? Comment below on what you want to see!​

 

[CTB Dream]

Vry thank v nice make mthd Sci, think need stck thrd mayb put link rsrc clct

 

[Dying science gal]

How to extract SN from curing salts:

Goals
This section describes two methods to extract sodium nitRITE from a mixture of sodium nitRITE and sodium chloride (table salt), which is usually present in curing salts. Note that the methods below are untested.

Method 1 - Solubility
It is well known that salt is significantly less soluble than SN. Therefore, we propose the following procedure to separate SN from sodium chloride.

Note: The yield on this is absolutely terrible, since there just isn't that much SN in curing salts to start with, and solubility filtering is bad in general. But it should still work.

Materials - Curing salt (lots) - Tall cup, bottle, or graduated cylinder (x2) - Heating device, such as fire or hot plate - Coffee filter (A few) - Paper towel - SN test kit (You can get this from any pet store. You only need this if you want to test it.)

1. Put the curing salt into a tall cup, bottle or graduated cylinder.
2. Add large amounts of water to the curing salt.
3. Shake for 10 seconds (Seal the cap). Uncap, and then pour liquids through coffee filter. Pour the stuff caught in the coffee filter back (after drying, if there's lots) or dispose if there isn't a lot.
4. Boil out the filtered out liquids, until only solids remain. Repeat steps 2 through 4 with the curing salt until you have approx. 3x the amount of SN you need.
5. Discard or put away the remaining curing salt. Retain the mixture that you got through boiling.
6. Add water into the mixture you have. Shake for 5 seconds. Uncap, then pour through coffee filter. Boil.
7. Repeat step 6 as many times as necessary.
8. Test the salts you get out of step 7! The salts remaining after these solubility tests should be only SN!

Method 2 - Melting
SN has a melting point of 271 °C, and decomposes at 320 °C. Salt (Sodium chloride) has a melting point of 810 °C.

Note: The yield on this is okay terrible, since there just isn't that much SN in curing salts.

Materials - Curing salt (lots) - A pan - Heating device, such as fire or hot plate, that can heat to 300 degrees C - Some sort of fine metal filter, that regular salt can't fit through - A flask or beaker, or a cup you won't ever use again - Thermometer that goes to 350 degrees C- SN test kit (You can get this from any pet store. You only need this if you want to test it.)

1. Put the curing salt onto the pan.
2. Put the pan on top of the heating device.
3. Turn on the heating device. DO NOT let the salt get hotter than 285 degrees C. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT let it get hotter than 300 degrees C since that's when it decomposes.
4. Once things start to melt, and you have enough fluids, pour the the melted contents through the filter.
5. Add water to the filtered contents and mix.
6. Boil out the water. You should get salts after boiling.
7. Test the salts! The salts remaining should be only SN!

 

[Unwr!tten]

This should be a sticky thread or in resources

 

[Dying science gal]

Vry thank v nice make mthd Sci, think need stck thrd mayb put link rsrc clct

This should be a sticky thread or in resources

Message the global mods for me, thanks!

 

[Vizzy]

This should be a sticky thread or in resources

I highly doubt it, that they will do that

99.99 percent of people can't do all these steps correctly to obtain SN, it looks complicated and a lot of products to be purchased

Many people are not ready to put effort on a simple and little technical way of building a nitrogen exit bag which is peaceful than sn, do you think people gonna do all these steps to obtain sn, I highly doubt it!

Aluminum-Based Oxidation of Sodium Nitrate: A Simple Approach for Acquiring Sodium Nitrite (SN)
a_user et al, 2023​

This study explores a practical and safe method to produce sodium nitrite (SN), a chemical compound with diverse applications, by oxidizing aluminum with sodium nitrate. Amid increasing restrictions on SN due to safety issues, this method ensures accessibility to SN for legitimate uses. The experiment involves heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and aluminum, followed by dissolution, filtration, and re-heating, resulting in the production of SN. The project emphasizes the significance of maintaining access to SN for various crucial applications, offering a straightforward approach that can be safely conducted using common materials and equipment.

Background
Sodium nitRITE (NaNO2, hereafter abbreviated to SN) is a chemical compound that has been widely used in various industries and applications due to its unique properties. While its usage has become restricted in some jurisdictions due to safety concerns, such as the recent increase in popularity of SN being used for suicide, it is important to recognize the value and necessity of making SN accessible to individuals.

SN has a range of legitimate and essential applications across various sectors. It is crucial for food manufacturers as a food additive, ensuring food safety, extending shelf life, and maintaining quality in processed meats. In medicine, it plays a vital role in treating cyanide poisoning and methemoglobinemia. SN is also valuable in industrial settings, where it is used in manufacturing dyes, pigments, corrosion inhibitors, and rust prevention. Additionally, it contributes to agricultural and horticultural practices by serving as a nitrogen source in fertilizers and controlling pests. By allowing accessibility to sodium nitrite, individuals, such as amateur chemists and chefs, can an extremely enjoyable time working with SN safely. It is of my opinion that the prohibition of the distribution of SN is completely irrational for many reasons, of one being how easy it is to make out of non-restricted substances.

Note
TALLman lettering is employed throughout the article to prevent the confusion between sodium nitRITE and sodium nitRATE (mostly for myself so I don't get confused). In addition, the abbreviation, SN is employed solely for sodium nitRITE, and never used for sodium nitRATE. In addition, the discussion of whether if sodium nitRITE should be restricted, and whether if individuals have the right to a fast and peaceful exit is out of scope for this article for legal reasons. Nevertheless, it is critical that we understand that there are numerous indisputably legitimate and essential private uses of SN, and therefore, access to SN should be maintained.

The method utilized in this project has been determined by the results of this poll.

This article is split to two sections. First being a tested method of creating sodium nitRITE with aluminium and sodium nitRATE. The second is an untested method of extracting sodium nitRITE using curing salts based on solubility of SN and sodium chloride (table salt). This untested method will be posted in a comment after the publication of this article.

Goals
The goals of this experiment is to determine whether if it is possible to reliably oxidize aluminium with sodium nitRATE to create aluminium oxide and sodium nitRITE.

Reaction
3 NaNO3 + 2 Al ⟶ Al2 O3 + 3 NaNO2

Materials and Equipment
If you need help finding anything, let me know via a private message! If you want to substitute since you can't get something, feel free to send a comment and I can let you know if it would work!
1. Hot plate or other heating device like a stove (household is fine) or a bunsen burner
2. Good thermometer if you are not using a hot plate (Amazon carries those, you don't need one if you can make sure everything is under 300C)
3. Sodium nitRATE - 2-3x more than you want the product (SN) be, if you're confident you won't mess up.
4. Aluminium (Household foil is good enough. Be sure you didn't accidentally buy tin foil! Buy the cheapest ones your place sells since that is less likely to be contaminated - get two rolls just in case. Powder preferred!)
5. PPE
- Fume hood (preferred) or googles and N95+ mask if you don't want to breath in smelly fumes
- Gloves (Disposable)
- Lab coat if you have one on hand
6. Very clean water (distilled only! Make sure it has 0 added minerals. Reverse osmosis is NOT good. Tap water is NOT good. Regular household boiled water is NOT good. You can buy distilled water from any pharmacy or grocery store).
7. Borosilicate beakers or pans that you won't use after this.
8. Sodium nitrITE test strips (You can buy these from any pet shop)
9. Coffee filter/paper

Procedure
BEFORE STARTING ANY PROCEDURE, PUT ON PPE!
1. Sanitize all equipment. If you are using a pan, there can be absolutely NO oil on it!
2. Shred lots of aluminium foil (0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants)
3. Pour out sodium nitRATE (approx 2x the amount of sodium nitRITE you want to make).
4. Mix the sodium nitRATE with the aluminium in a beaker or pan. Mix it well!
5. Heat everything up. Keep it below 300C or else the SN could disintegrate! Heat it for 1 hour.
6. Once it is heated for one hour, add water to the container SLOWLY. Wait until all the powder is dissolved. Test the solution with the test paper to see if the amount of sodium nitRITE is satisfactory. If it is, stop to step 14.
7. Filter the solution though the coffee filter. Make sure only liquids pass through.
8. Boil the liquid and dispose of the filter and the stuff in it as household waste.
9. Once the liquid is boiled, add as little water as possible for everything in it to dissolve.
10. Use more aluminium foil to make a "box" with open top.
11. Put the liquid solution you have made in step 9 into the "box" and then scrunch up the "box", making sure that all the powder stays inside the "box". Make everything tight (not too tight. (If you need more explanation, drop a comment)
12. Heat up the scrunched up aluminium foil with the powder inside for 1 hour at less than 300C.
13. Skip to step 6 and repeat.
14. Filter the solution through the coffee filter, and then boil off the solution.
15. After boiling off the solution, you should be left with a powder. That powder should be sodium nitRITE!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send a comment below! I don't bite~

Disposal
Heat sodium nitRITE to 400C for sodium nitRITE to be decomposed to harmless chemicals. Then dispose in household rubbish. DO NOT dispose sodium nitRITE in household rubbish without decomposing first!

Testing
As of May 14, 2023, the SN produced as a part of this experiment has not yet been quantified. However, we plan to test the substance with FTIR spectrometry in the coming weeks. We will comment on this thread once the results are made available to us.

Images
We will add images in the near future!

Bonus: How to extract SN from curing salts - two methods:
Method 1: Solubility
Method 2: Melting

Now we learned how to make SN. Hmm. Thoughts on making a guide for making something nicer, like N? Comment below on what you want to see!​

Instead of all this, better build a nitrogen exit bag which is peaceful than sn, less work and less complicated than extracting sn!

 

[Dying science gal]

I highly doubt it, that they will do that

99.99 percent of people can't do all these steps correctly to obtain SN, it looks complicated and a lot of products to be purchased

Many people are not ready to put effort on a simple and little technical way of building a nitrogen exit bag which is peaceful than sn, do you think people gonna do all these steps to obtain sn, I highly doubt it!

Instead of all this, better build a nitrogen exit bag which is peaceful than sn, less work and less complicated than extracting sn!

Nitrogen bags are awesome, and for me, second in line after N! It's just that I find it super hard to get nitrogen canisters nowadays outside of my corporate industrial supplier.

Also, I've made comments detailing much simpler ways for it to be done starting from curing salt rather than from sodium nitRATE, with just water!

 

[Vizzy]

Nitrogen bags are awesome, and for me, second in line after N! It's just that I find it super hard to get nitrogen canisters nowadays outside of my corporate industrial supplier.

Also, I've made comments detailing much simpler ways for it to be done starting from curing salt rather than from sodium nitRATE, with just water!

Just try beer industry to obtain nitrogen which is one easy way, for me primary method is Nitrogen and backup method is sn

Nitrogen bags are awesome, and for me, second in line after N! It's just that I find it super hard to get nitrogen canisters nowadays outside of my corporate industrial supplier.

Also, I've made comments detailing much simpler ways for it to be done starting from curing salt rather than from sodium nitRATE, with just water!

I don't see anything wrong in your extraction steps but I highly doubt people will do these!

 

[PurpleParadigm]

Bumping this before it gets stickied. Good content.

 

[unnormal9]

Is not cheaper to buy a batch from CCS, whenever its relisted.

 

[Unwr!tten]

I doubt CCS will be relisted or if it is, they will make it really really hard to get.

 

[Dying science gal]

I doubt CCS will be relisted or if it is, they will make it really really hard to get.

Is not cheaper to buy a batch from CCS, whenever its relisted.

I don't think CCS will ever relist without limiting it to corporate clients only. Also they don't ship out of the US.

 

[Not.Flugel]

Aluminum-Based Oxidation of Sodium Nitrate: A Simple Approach for Acquiring Sodium Nitrite (SN)
a_user et al, 2023​

This study explores a practical and safe method to produce sodium nitrite (SN), a chemical compound with diverse applications, by oxidizing aluminum with sodium nitrate. Amid increasing restrictions on SN due to safety issues, this method ensures accessibility to SN for legitimate uses. The experiment involves heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and aluminum, followed by dissolution, filtration, and re-heating, resulting in the production of SN. The project emphasizes the significance of maintaining access to SN for various crucial applications, offering a straightforward approach that can be safely conducted using common materials and equipment.

Background
Sodium nitRITE (NaNO2, hereafter abbreviated to SN) is a chemical compound that has been widely used in various industries and applications due to its unique properties. While its usage has become restricted in some jurisdictions due to safety concerns, such as the recent increase in popularity of SN being used for suicide, it is important to recognize the value and necessity of making SN accessible to individuals.

SN has a range of legitimate and essential applications across various sectors. It is crucial for food manufacturers as a food additive, ensuring food safety, extending shelf life, and maintaining quality in processed meats. In medicine, it plays a vital role in treating cyanide poisoning and methemoglobinemia. SN is also valuable in industrial settings, where it is used in manufacturing dyes, pigments, corrosion inhibitors, and rust prevention. Additionally, it contributes to agricultural and horticultural practices by serving as a nitrogen source in fertilizers and controlling pests. By allowing accessibility to sodium nitrite, individuals, such as amateur chemists and chefs, can an extremely enjoyable time working with SN safely. It is of my opinion that the prohibition of the distribution of SN is completely irrational for many reasons, of one being how easy it is to make out of non-restricted substances.

Note
TALLman lettering is employed throughout the article to prevent the confusion between sodium nitRITE and sodium nitRATE (mostly for myself so I don't get confused). In addition, the abbreviation, SN is employed solely for sodium nitRITE, and never used for sodium nitRATE. In addition, the discussion of whether if sodium nitRITE should be restricted, and whether if individuals have the right to a fast and peaceful exit is out of scope for this article for legal reasons. Nevertheless, it is critical that we understand that there are numerous indisputably legitimate and essential private uses of SN, and therefore, access to SN should be maintained.

The method utilized in this project has been determined by the results of this poll.

This article is split to two sections. First being a tested method of creating sodium nitRITE with aluminium and sodium nitRATE. The second is an untested method of extracting sodium nitRITE using curing salts based on solubility of SN and sodium chloride (table salt). This untested method will be posted in a comment after the publication of this article.

Goals
The goals of this experiment is to determine whether if it is possible to reliably oxidize aluminium with sodium nitRATE to create aluminium oxide and sodium nitRITE.

Reaction
3 NaNO3 + 2 Al ⟶ Al2 O3 + 3 NaNO2

Materials and Equipment
If you need help finding anything, let me know via a private message! If you want to substitute since you can't get something, feel free to send a comment and I can let you know if it would work!
1. Hot plate or other heating device like a stove (household is fine) or a bunsen burner
2. Good thermometer if you are not using a hot plate (Amazon carries those, you don't need one if you can make sure everything is under 300C)
3. Sodium nitRATE - 2-3x more than you want the product (SN) be, if you're confident you won't mess up.
4. Aluminium (Household foil is good enough. Be sure you didn't accidentally buy tin foil! Buy the cheapest ones your place sells since that is less likely to be contaminated - get two rolls just in case. Powder preferred!)
5. PPE
- Fume hood (preferred) or googles and N95+ mask if you don't want to breath in smelly fumes
- Gloves (Disposable)
- Lab coat if you have one on hand
6. Very clean water (distilled only! Make sure it has 0 added minerals. Reverse osmosis is NOT good. Tap water is NOT good. Regular household boiled water is NOT good. You can buy distilled water from any pharmacy or grocery store).
7. Borosilicate beakers or pans that you won't use after this.
8. Sodium nitrITE test strips (You can buy these from any pet shop)
9. Coffee filter/paper

Procedure
BEFORE STARTING ANY PROCEDURE, PUT ON PPE!
1. Sanitize all equipment. If you are using a pan, there can be absolutely NO oil on it!
2. Shred lots of aluminium foil (0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants)
3. Pour out sodium nitRATE (approx 2x the amount of sodium nitRITE you want to make).
4. Mix the sodium nitRATE with the aluminium in a beaker or pan. Mix it well!
5. Heat everything up. Keep it below 300C or else the SN could disintegrate! Heat it for 1 hour.
6. Once it is heated for one hour, add water to the container SLOWLY. Wait until all the powder is dissolved. Test the solution with the test paper to see if the amount of sodium nitRITE is satisfactory. If it is, stop to step 14.
7. Filter the solution though the coffee filter. Make sure only liquids pass through.
8. Boil the liquid and dispose of the filter and the stuff in it as household waste.
9. Once the liquid is boiled, add as little water as possible for everything in it to dissolve.
10. Use more aluminium foil to make a "box" with open top.
11. Put the liquid solution you have made in step 9 into the "box" and then scrunch up the "box", making sure that all the powder stays inside the "box". Make everything tight (not too tight. (If you need more explanation, drop a comment)
12. Heat up the scrunched up aluminium foil with the powder inside for 1 hour at less than 300C.
13. Skip to step 6 and repeat.
14. Filter the solution through the coffee filter, and then boil off the solution.
15. After boiling off the solution, you should be left with a powder. That powder should be sodium nitRITE!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send a comment below! I don't bite~

Disposal
Heat sodium nitRITE to 400C for sodium nitRITE to be decomposed to harmless chemicals. Then dispose in household rubbish. DO NOT dispose sodium nitRITE in household rubbish without decomposing first!

Testing
As of May 14, 2023, the SN produced as a part of this experiment has not yet been quantified. However, we plan to test the substance with FTIR spectrometry in the coming weeks. We will comment on this thread once the results are made available to us.

Images
We will add images in the near future!

Bonus: How to extract SN from curing salts - two methods:
Method 1: Solubility
Method 2: Melting

Now we learned how to make SN. Hmm. Thoughts on making a guide for making something nicer, like N? Comment below on what you want to see!​

But like some other said, it's probably easier to find and buy SN. Also, knowing my peers in lab I can promise you that the average person doesn't have the necessary skill to make this, still a nice add.

Interested to see how your quantitative Test turns out, I must say my lab self is turning on itself by seeing this to create SN, also why not purchases the minium quantity of real lab equipment to make this work? Normal lab filters are not that expensive neither would be aluminium (500g for €10). If possible can you please tag me when you add the % of purity of your test?

 

[Valky]

Zeit den guten, alten Bunsen Brenner rauszuholen

 

[Dying science gal]

I doubt CCS will be relisted or if it is, they will make it really really hard to get.

Is not cheaper to buy a batch from CCS, whenever its relisted.

I don't think CCS will ever relist without making it corporate clients only. I think it was delisted because it's being used for ctb. Also they don't ship out of the US so I (in Canada) can't get it.

Zeit den guten, alten Bunsen Brenner rauszuholen

Be careful with the bunsen burner since if you overheat it, it would decompose.

 

[Not.Flugel]

Zeit den guten, alten Bunsen Brenner rauszuholen

Basiert und rotpilled, aber vorsichtig. Aluminiumfolie abzufackeln ist wenig gut für die Gesundheit.

 

[Valky]

Basiert und rotpilled, aber vorsichtig. Aluminiumfolie abzufackeln ist wenig gut für die Gesundheit.

Ich glaub das ist den meisten dann wiederum auch Käse.
Du sollst ja auch nicht das Teil an sich abfackeln, sondern eine Pfanne damit erhitzen

 

[Linda]

Aluminum-Based Oxidation of Sodium Nitrate: A Simple Approach for Acquiring Sodium Nitrite (SN)
a_user et al, 2023​

This study explores a practical and safe method to produce sodium nitrite (SN), a chemical compound with diverse applications, by oxidizing aluminum with sodium nitrate. Amid increasing restrictions on SN due to safety issues, this method ensures accessibility to SN for legitimate uses. The experiment involves heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and aluminum, followed by dissolution, filtration, and re-heating, resulting in the production of SN. The project emphasizes the significance of maintaining access to SN for various crucial applications, offering a straightforward approach that can be safely conducted using common materials and equipment.

Background
Sodium nitRITE (NaNO2, hereafter abbreviated to SN) is a chemical compound that has been widely used in various industries and applications due to its unique properties. While its usage has become restricted in some jurisdictions due to safety concerns, such as the recent increase in popularity of SN being used for suicide, it is important to recognize the value and necessity of making SN accessible to individuals.

SN has a range of legitimate and essential applications across various sectors. It is crucial for food manufacturers as a food additive, ensuring food safety, extending shelf life, and maintaining quality in processed meats. In medicine, it plays a vital role in treating cyanide poisoning and methemoglobinemia. SN is also valuable in industrial settings, where it is used in manufacturing dyes, pigments, corrosion inhibitors, and rust prevention. Additionally, it contributes to agricultural and horticultural practices by serving as a nitrogen source in fertilizers and controlling pests. By allowing accessibility to sodium nitrite, individuals, such as amateur chemists and chefs, can an extremely enjoyable time working with SN safely. It is of my opinion that the prohibition of the distribution of SN is completely irrational for many reasons, of one being how easy it is to make out of non-restricted substances.

Note
TALLman lettering is employed throughout the article to prevent the confusion between sodium nitRITE and sodium nitRATE (mostly for myself so I don't get confused). In addition, the abbreviation, SN is employed solely for sodium nitRITE, and never used for sodium nitRATE. In addition, the discussion of whether if sodium nitRITE should be restricted, and whether if individuals have the right to a fast and peaceful exit is out of scope for this article for legal reasons. Nevertheless, it is critical that we understand that there are numerous indisputably legitimate and essential private uses of SN, and therefore, access to SN should be maintained.

The method utilized in this project has been determined by the results of this poll.

This article is split to two sections. First being a tested method of creating sodium nitRITE with aluminium and sodium nitRATE. The second is an untested method of extracting sodium nitRITE using curing salts based on solubility of SN and sodium chloride (table salt). This untested method will be posted in a comment after the publication of this article.

Goals
The goals of this experiment is to determine whether if it is possible to reliably oxidize aluminium with sodium nitRATE to create aluminium oxide and sodium nitRITE.

Reaction
3 NaNO3 + 2 Al ⟶ Al2 O3 + 3 NaNO2

Materials and Equipment
If you need help finding anything, let me know via a private message! If you want to substitute since you can't get something, feel free to send a comment and I can let you know if it would work!
1. Hot plate or other heating device like a stove (household is fine) or a bunsen burner
2. Good thermometer if you are not using a hot plate (Amazon carries those, you don't need one if you can make sure everything is under 300C)
3. Sodium nitRATE - 2-3x more than you want the product (SN) be, if you're confident you won't mess up.
4. Aluminium (Household foil is good enough. Be sure you didn't accidentally buy tin foil! Buy the cheapest ones your place sells since that is less likely to be contaminated - get two rolls just in case. Powder preferred!)
5. PPE
- Fume hood (preferred) or googles and N95+ mask if you don't want to breath in smelly fumes
- Gloves (Disposable)
- Lab coat if you have one on hand
6. Very clean water (distilled only! Make sure it has 0 added minerals. Reverse osmosis is NOT good. Tap water is NOT good. Regular household boiled water is NOT good. You can buy distilled water from any pharmacy or grocery store).
7. Borosilicate beakers or pans that you won't use after this.
8. Sodium nitrITE test strips (You can buy these from any pet shop)
9. Coffee filter/paper

Procedure
BEFORE STARTING ANY PROCEDURE, PUT ON PPE!
1. Sanitize all equipment. If you are using a pan, there can be absolutely NO oil on it!
2. Shred lots of aluminium foil (0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants)
3. Pour out sodium nitRATE (approx 2x the amount of sodium nitRITE you want to make).
4. Mix the sodium nitRATE with the aluminium in a beaker or pan. Mix it well!
5. Heat everything up. Keep it below 300C or else the SN could disintegrate! Heat it for 1 hour.
6. Once it is heated for one hour, add water to the container SLOWLY. Wait until all the powder is dissolved. Test the solution with the test paper to see if the amount of sodium nitRITE is satisfactory. If it is, stop to step 14.
7. Filter the solution though the coffee filter. Make sure only liquids pass through.
8. Boil the liquid and dispose of the filter and the stuff in it as household waste.
9. Once the liquid is boiled, add as little water as possible for everything in it to dissolve.
10. Use more aluminium foil to make a "box" with open top.
11. Put the liquid solution you have made in step 9 into the "box" and then scrunch up the "box", making sure that all the powder stays inside the "box". Make everything tight (not too tight. (If you need more explanation, drop a comment)
12. Heat up the scrunched up aluminium foil with the powder inside for 1 hour at less than 300C.
13. Skip to step 6 and repeat.
14. Filter the solution through the coffee filter, and then boil off the solution.
15. After boiling off the solution, you should be left with a powder. That powder should be sodium nitRITE!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send a comment below! I don't bite~

Disposal
Heat sodium nitRITE to 400C for sodium nitRITE to be decomposed to harmless chemicals. Then dispose in household rubbish. DO NOT dispose sodium nitRITE in household rubbish without decomposing first!

Testing
As of May 14, 2023, the SN produced as a part of this experiment has not yet been quantified. However, we plan to test the substance with FTIR spectrometry in the coming weeks. We will comment on this thread once the results are made available to us.

Images
We will add images in the near future!

Bonus: How to extract SN from curing salts - two methods:
Method 1: Solubility
Method 2: Melting

Now we learned how to make SN. Hmm. Thoughts on making a guide for making something nicer, like N? Comment below on what you want to see!​

Might work, but be careful with powdered aluminium. It can react very vigorously, and generate a lot of heat. Things might get out of control. I suggest you try the whole procedure first with small quantities, no more than a tenth of what you will use for the real attempt.

 

[Not.Flugel]

Ich glaub das ist den meisten dann wiederum auch Käse.
Du sollst ja auch nicht das Teil an sich abfackeln, sondern eine Pfanne damit erhitzen

Wenn du es wirklich selbst probieren willst, nimm Aluminiumpulver. Und ich halte von Heimlaborexperiment gar nichts. Ich bezweifele, dass ein Großteil des Forums das gescheit hinbekommt. Wenn man sieht, wie manche im Labor arbeiten, will ich mir nicht vorstellen, wie schlimm das bei einem Laien aussieht.

 

[Valky]

Wenn du es wirklich selbst probieren willst, nimm Aluminiumpulver. Und ich halte von Heimlaborexperiment gar nichts. Ich bezweifele, dass ein Großteil des Forums das gescheit hinbekommt. Wenn man sieht, wie manche im Labor arbeiten, will ich mir nicht vorstellen, wie schlimm das bei einem Laien aussieht.

Da würde Ich dir zustimmen, wenn es nicht um SN gehen würde. Illegal ist es nicht und viel passieren kann auch nichts. Scheint meiner Meinung nach auch nicht zu kompliziert :) Versuch ist es wert. Besser als sich die Kehle aufschlitzen zu müssen oder Sonstiges.

 

[Not.Flugel]

Besser als sich die Kehle aufschlitzen zu müssen oder Sonstiges.

Das sowieso. Bin trotzdem sicher, dass vorher oder später irgendwer es verkackt und wir den nächsten fehlgeschlagen Versuch mit NaNO2 bekommen, gabs schonmal hier. Finde es nur interessant, weil es mehr Möglichkeiten gibt das zu Hause zu machen. Aber na ja abwarten auf die Reinheit.

 

[Valky]

Das sowieso. Bin trotzdem sicher, dass vorher oder später irgendwer es verkackt und wir den nächsten fehlgeschlagen Versuch mit NaNO2 bekommen, gabs schonmal hier. Finde es nur interessant, weil es mehr Möglichkeiten gibt das zu Hause zu machen. Aber na ja abwarten auf die Reinheit.

Das stimmt wohl leider..bin gespannt und möchte es gleichzeitig eigentlich gar nicht wissen

 

[Jezzibell]

Can you help me please on how much nitrate to buy. 25g of the finished product is more than enough I only weigh 22kgs

 

[Dolphin55]

Thank you for taking the time to make this guide! Only couple of things I thought maybe need clarification -
1. the amount of aluminium - you say '0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants' does this mean a quarter of the mass of the sodium nitRATE? How do you calculate what the mass is? I assume it's different from the weight?
2. you say to keep it the temperature below 300C when heating the mixture, but don't actually specify what temperature you should aim for. Around 250C? Less?
thanks again!

 

[Dying science gal]

Might work, but be careful with powdered aluminium. It can react very vigorously, and generate a lot of heat. Things might get out of control. I suggest you try the whole procedure first with small quantities, no more than a tenth of what you will use for the real attempt.

Powdered Aluminium is a very strong oxidizer and is super flammable. I agree with Linda on this. Be careful.

Can you help me please on how much nitrate to buy. 25g of the finished product is more than enough I only weigh 22kgs

I would buy 500mg so you have space to play with it, mess up, and make multiple attempts. Also the yield isn't that good.

Thank you for taking the time to make this guide! Only couple of things I thought maybe need clarification -
1. the amount of aluminium - you say '0.25 the mass of the amount of sodium nitRATE you are using as the reactants' does this mean a quarter of the mass of the sodium nitRATE? How do you calculate what the mass is? I assume it's different from the weight?
2. you say to keep it the temperature below 300C when heating the mixture, but don't actually specify what temperature you should aim for. Around 250C? Less?
thanks again!

Mass (basically) = weight (for our purposes). It would be a quarter of the amount of sodium nitrate.

There isn't a target temperature. I would keep it to be as hot as possible, but under 300 because over 300, it's ruined.

Das sowieso. Bin trotzdem sicher, dass vorher oder später irgendwer es verkackt und wir den nächsten fehlgeschlagen Versuch mit NaNO2 bekommen, gabs schonmal hier. Finde es nur interessant, weil es mehr Möglichkeiten gibt das zu Hause zu machen. Aber na ja abwarten auf die Reinheit.

There are other ways to do it. I can write and publish another guide if for some reason I am able to stay long enough and not ctb before then. Alternatives include oxidizing lead (the industrial way), oxidizing hydrogen (very pure, since hydrogen with the extra 2 oxygen forms water), or with nitrous oxide and sodium hydroxide (which produces water as well). If you have chemistry experience I would recommend the nitrous oxide and sodium hydroxide method, but otherwise, I would do either the aluminium or the lead method.

 

[hellispink]

Has anyone tried the experiment?

 

[Dying science gal]

Has anyone tried the experiment?

Hey, I tried what I made and I ended up in the hospital and was stuck in the psych ward for a month so I assume it worked...

 

[hellispink]

Hey, I tried what I made and I ended up in the hospital and was stuck in the psych ward for a month so I assume it worked...

Did it failed because you were found or because it was not enough lethal wise? I am sorry you had to go through such a nightmare.

 

[Dying science gal]

Did it failed because you were found or because it was not enough lethal wise? I am sorry you had to go through such a nightmare.

The dose was lethal, it was just that I got found in my room.

 

[Unwr!tten]

Oh man, good to know it works though! This should be added to suicide resources!