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Firescale
Firestain is a layer of oxides that is visible on the surface of objects made of metal alloys containing copper when the object is heated, as by a jeweler heating a ring to apply solder during a repair. On copper-containing alloys of gold or of silver (such as sterling silver), it presents as a red or purple stain. This is because at high temperatures, oxygen mixes with the copper to form cuprous oxide and then cupric oxide, both of which disrupt the bright polished surface of the finished piece. There are various methods used to either prevent or repair firestain. Preventative methods Firestain can be largely prevented by heating the object in an atmosphere in which the oxygen has been replaced with another combustive gas such as hydrogen or ammonia. Chemical agents called fluxes can reduce firestain when applied to metals before heating. Flux is usually made out of borax but other chemical compounds also have applications as fluxes. Curative methods Techniques such as polishing ...
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Mill Scale
Mill scale, often shortened to just scale, is the flaky surface of hot rolled steel, consisting of the mixed iron oxides iron(II) oxide (, wüstite), iron(III) oxide (, hematite), and iron(II,III) oxide (, magnetite). Mill scale is formed on the outer surfaces of plates, sheets or profiles when they are produced by passing red hot iron or steel billets through rolling mills. Mill scale is bluish-black in color. It is usually less than thick, and initially adheres to the steel surface and protects it from atmospheric corrosion provided no break occurs in this coating. Because it is electrochemically cathodic to steel, any break in the mill scale coating will cause accelerated corrosion of steel exposed at the break. Mill scale is thus a boon for a while, until its coating breaks due to handling of the steel product or due to any other mechanical cause. Mill scale becomes a nuisance when the steel is to be processed. Any paint applied over it is wasted, since it will come off ...
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Argentium Sterling Silver
Argentium silver (patented in 1998) is a brand of modern tarnish-resistant silver alloys, containing either 93.5%, 94% or 96% silver. Argentium alloys replace some of the copper in the traditional sterling silver (92.5% silver + 7.5% copper) with the metalloid germanium. Argentium 935, Argentium 940 and Argentium 960 alloys exceed the standard required for hallmarking as sterling silver, and Argentium 960 silver meets the standard for hallmarking as Britannia silver (95.84% silver). Origins and description Argentium silver is the result of research at the Art and Design Research Institute (ADRI), School of Art & Design, Middlesex University, by Peter Johns and colleagues. The project began in 1990 with research on the effects of germanium additions to silver alloys. Germanium was discovered to impart the following properties to sterling silver: * firescale elimination * high tarnish resistance * precipitation hardening and simple heat-hardening properties * in ...
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Sulfuric Acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, with the molecular formula . It is a colorless, odorless, and Viscosity, viscous liquid that is Miscibility, miscible with water. Pure sulfuric acid does not occur naturally due to its Dehydration reaction, strong affinity to water vapor; it is Hygroscopy, hygroscopic and readily absorbs water vapor from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. Concentrated sulfuric acid is a strong oxidant with powerful dehydrating properties, making it highly corrosive towards other materials, from rocks to metals. Phosphorus pentoxide is a notable exception in that it is not dehydrated by sulfuric acid but, to the contrary, dehydrates sulfuric acid to sulfur trioxide. Upon addition of sulfuric acid to water, a considerable amount of heat is releas ...
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Sodium Dichromate
Sodium dichromate is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2 Cr2 O7. However, the salt is usually handled as its dihydrate Na2Cr2O7·2 H2O. Virtually all chromium ore is processed via conversion to sodium dichromate and virtually all compounds and materials based on chromium are prepared from this salt.Gerd Anger, Jost Halstenberg, Klaus Hochgeschwender, Christoph Scherhag, Ulrich Korallus, Herbert Knopf, Peter Schmidt, Manfred Ohlinger, "Chromium Compounds" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2005. In terms of reactivity and appearance, sodium dichromate and potassium dichromate are very similar. The sodium salt is, however, around twenty times more soluble in water than the potassium salt (49 g/L at 0 °C) and its equivalent weight is also lower, which is often desirable.Freeman, F. "Sodium Dichromate" in Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis (Ed: L. Paquette) 2004, J. Wiley & Sons, New York. . Preparation Sodium dichromate i ...
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Electroplating
Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the redox, reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct current, direct electric current. The part to be coated acts as the cathode (negative electrode) of an electrolytic cell; the electrolyte is a solution (chemistry), solution of a salt (chemistry), salt whose cation is the metal to be coated, and the anode (positive electrode) is usually either a block of that metal, or of some inert electrical conductor, conductive material. The current is provided by an external power supply. Electroplating is widely used in industry and decorative arts to improve the surface qualities of objects—such as resistance to abrasion (mechanical), abrasion and corrosion, lubrication, lubricity, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, or appearance. It is used to build up thickness on undersized or worn-out parts and to manufacture metal ...
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Anode
An anode usually is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, which is usually an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic is ACID, for "anode current into device". The direction of conventional current (the flow of positive charges) in a circuit is opposite to the direction of electron flow, so (negatively charged) electrons flow from the anode of a galvanic cell, into an outside or external circuit connected to the cell. For example, the end of a household battery marked with a "+" is the cathode (while discharging). In both a galvanic cell and an electrolytic cell, the anode is the electrode at which the oxidation reaction occurs. In a galvanic cell the anode is the wire or plate having excess negative charge as a result of the oxidation reaction. In an electrolytic cell, the anode is the wire or plate upon which excess positive charge ...
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Nitric Acid
Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68% in water. When the solution contains more than 86% , it is referred to as ''fuming nitric acid''. Depending on the amount of nitrogen dioxide present, fuming nitric acid is further characterized as red fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 86%, or white fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 95%. Nitric acid is the primary reagent used for nitration – the addition of a nitro group, typically to an organic molecule. While some resulting nitro compounds are shock- and thermally-sensitive explosives, a few are stable enough to be used in munitions and demolition, while others are still more stable and used as synthetic dyes and medicines (e.g. metronidazole). Nitric acid is ...
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Cyanide
In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This anion is extremely poisonous. Soluble cyanide salts such as sodium cyanide (NaCN), potassium cyanide (KCN) and tetraethylammonium cyanide () are highly toxic. Covalent cyanides contain the group, and are usually called nitriles if the group is linked by a single covalent bond to carbon atom. For example, in acetonitrile , the cyanide group is bonded to methyl . In tetracyanomethane , four cyano groups are bonded to carbon. Although nitriles generally do not release cyanide ions, the cyanohydrins do and are thus toxic. The cyano group may be covalently bonded to atoms different than carbon, e.g., in cyanogen azide , phosphorus tricyanide and trimethylsilyl cyanide . Hydrogen cyanide, or , is a highly volatile toxic liquid tha ...
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Borax
The BORAX Experiments were a series of safety experiments on boiling water nuclear reactors conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s at the National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho.Light Water Reactor Technology Development
Argonne National Laboratory
They were performed using the five BORAX reactors that were designed and built by Argonne. BORAX-III was the first nuclear reactor to supply electrical power to the grid in the United States in 1955.


Evolution of BORAX

This series of tests began in 1952 with the construction of the BORAX-I

Oxides
An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides. Even materials considered pure elements often develop an oxide coating. For example, aluminium foil develops a thin skin of (called a passivation layer) that protects the foil from further oxidation.Greenwood, N. N.; & Earnshaw, A. (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd Edn.), Oxford:Butterworth-Heinemann. . Stoichiometry Oxides are extraordinarily diverse in terms of stoichiometries (the measurable relationship between reactants and chemical equations of an equation or reaction) and in terms of the structures of each stoichiometry. Most elements form oxides of more than one stoichiometry. A well known example is carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.Greenwood, N. N.; & Earnshaw, A. (1 ...
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