MadSci Network: Chemistry
Query:

Re: Where can I obtain small amounts of chemical elements for a collection?

Date: Fri Feb 1 10:26:52 2002
Posted By: Dan Berger, Faculty Chemistry/Science, Bluffton College
Area of science: Chemistry
ID: 1011710832.Ch
Message:

Where can I obtain small amounts of chemical elements for a collection?

I seek small amounts of elements for a collection, (example: sulfur, enough to fill a baby food jar half full. I need sulfur, iron filings, iodine, calcium, boron, etc.

Sincerely,
R.L. Walker


Dear Mr. Walker,

The easiest way to obtain such is from a company that sells "fine chemicals", which means they're willing to sell small amounts to research labs, rather than a minimum order of 55 gallons or so. Some of the leading companies include

  • Aldrich, probably the premier fine chemical supplier. They sell mostly organic chemicals. Aldrich was bought by Sigma a few years ago, and they also own the Fluka brand name; but you can search all brands under the Sigma-Aldrich umbrella from the website I linked.

  • Alfa Aesar, which traditionally specializes in inorganics; they have more pure elements for sale, and may be less expensive than Aldrich.

But a word of caution, if I may:

Half a baby-food jar is not what I would consider a small amount; for sulfur, that works out to be about 200 grams. A "small amount" is more like 5-10 grams. Such amounts can usually be bought, though not for every element.

Think of your heirs. Eventually, someone is going to have to dispose of all this stuff, and many elements are toxic, or hazardous, or both. I am thinking of potassium metal, which is easy to come by but very dangerous if not kept in strictly anhydrous conditions. (Yes, I know, my college chemistry stockroom has old potassium metal rods, stored under mineral oil, and they're almost completely oxidized... but what if some ignoramus dropped it into a tub of water?) There's also beryllium, which is quite toxic as a powder aerosol, both the pure element and the oxide. There are other examples.

You may have the knowledge to deal with these problems, but there is no guarantee that those who come after you will.

I'm sure you realize that you will not be able to get samples of all the elements; astatine and francium are only two of several that have never existed in quantities larger than a few milligrams, and others like plutonium are quite strictly regulated.

But if you still want to proceed... unless you are ingenious (tiny amounts of gold can be recovered from some electronic equipment, and americium is used in smoke detectors) you will sink a sizable amount of money into completing your collection. For example, my copy of the Aldrich catalog lists platinum wire at $200 per gram.

Have you thought of collecting compounds of some elements? For example, you could store calcium chloride much more safely than calcium metal, and it's sold as a de-icing compound for pennies a pound.

Dan Berger
Bluffton College
http://www.bluffton.edu/~bergerd



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