Hey, guys! In this video there will not be any explosions that you like so much.
I’ll just show you the forming of potassium and caesium ozonides,
that are quiet unique inorganic compounds and totally worth your attention!
But before we move on to the lab, I’d like to thank you for your financial support that allowed me
to purchase a professional light. I almost got rid of that annoying flicker thanks to it!
Potassium ozonide can be prepared
at low temperatures by ozone treatment of dry potassium hydroxide.
Well, guys, to get potassium ozonide in this reaction I will use potassium hydroxide
and I will melt it to remove water stains as much as possible.
In order to make the reaction of potassium ozonide forming visible,
potassium hydroxide must be cooled down to room temperature or lower.
Actually this reaction should’ve been performed in a glass tube,
but to make it more vivid I will perform it on a watch glass.
See what happens, when I supply ozone through this glass tube.
Ozone
3
2
1
go!
A very thin layer of potassium ozonide is forming on potassium hydroxide.
It is yellow but turns red when the concentration is increased.
Let me put it closer to the source of ozone so that you can observe a more saturated colouring.
Now I’ll turn off the supplying of ozone and potassium ozonide will decompose quickly
due to humidity and not-low-enough temperature
Potassium ozonide is quiet an unstable compound and sometimes it decomposes with an explosion.
With a bigger yield potassium ozonide can be get from potassium superoxide
because in this case, unlike in the reaction with potassium hydroxide,
we will not get any water as a reaction product, that decomposes potassium ozonide.
Also, potassium ozonide forms when ozone is passed through the solution of potassium that, for its part,
is dissolved in liquid ammonia.
As well as other alkali metals, potassium is soluble in liquid ammonia.
This dissolving results in a dark-blue colour and forming of potassium amide that makes blue colour
turn white very quick.
Potassium ozonide that is formed during the reaction may be seen as orange-red inclusions on the tube walls
in white potassium amide.
Stability of alkali metal ozonides increases in the group from lithium to caesium.
Take a look at these seemingly harmless grey crystals.
Well, actually it’s caesium hydroxide, that is an extremely strong alkali.
Considering that caesium ozonide is the most stable of all ozonides,
we should observe the most saturated bright-red colouring possible, when it forms.
Caesium hydroxide deliquesces because of the water that forms during the reaction.
Formed caesium ozonide adds a quite appetizing look to our caesium hydroxide crystals.
When the temperature rises above 70C
Caesium ozonide completely decomposes into caesium superoxide and oxygen
Now if I add water into ozonated caesium hydroxide,
you can see a barely noticeable exhalation of gas bubbles.
This is oxygen.
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