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Preparation of Bakelite
Preparation of Bakelite
Preparation of Bakelite
Date: 28-09-10
Muhammad Usman
(2008-chem-02-B)
Properties of required chemicals:
Harmful:
Dilute acetic acid, in the form of vinegar, is harmless.
Flammable:
Concentrated acetic acid can be ignited with difficulty in the laboratory. It
becomes a flammable risk if the ambient temperature exceeds 39 °C (102 °F),
and can form explosive mixtures with air above this temperature (explosive
limits: 5.4–16%).
Corrosive:
Concentrated acetic acid is corrosive and must be handled with appropriate care,
since it can cause skin burns, permanent eye damage, and irritation to the
mucous membranes. These burns or blisters may not appear until hours after
exposure. Latex gloves offer no protection, so especially resistant gloves, such
as those made of nitrile rubber, are worn when handling the compound.
Carcinogenic:
Formaldehyde is a carcinogenic chemical. While handling it, care should be
taken otherwise it can cause serious damage to humane life.
Toxic:
It is a toxic compound. Serious damage can be there if swallowed or inhaled for
a sufficiently long time.
Properties of Formaldehyde solution:
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance in the environment made of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen.
Structure
Colorless gas
In lab 37% liquid
Appearance solution of
formaldehyde was
used.
3. Phenol:
Corrosive:
Phenol is a corrosive substance. It is a slightly acidic compound. Care should
be taken while handling phenol because it can damage to skin and clothing.
Toxic:
Phenol and its vapors are corrosive to the eyes, the skin, and the respiratory
tract. Inhalation of phenol vapor may cause lung problems. The substance
may cause harmful effects on the central nervous system and heart. The
kidneys may be affected as well. Exposure may result in death and the effects
may be delayed. Long-term or repeated exposure of the substance may have
harmful effects on the liver and kidneys." There is no evidence to believe that
phenol causes cancer in humans.
Properties of Phenol:
Structure
Appearance
o Procedure:
1) Take 25ml of glacial acetic acid in a beaker. Add 12.5 ml of 40% formaldehyde solution in the
beaker.
2) Now add 10g phenol into above solution after some heating.
3) Finally add 12-15ml HCl into solution.
4) Start heating solution in H2O Bath such that the water in the bath doesn’t start boiling.
5) Keep on heating the solution unless there is a solid mass formed in the beaker with small amount
of H2O present.
6) Now filter this mixture with the help of funnel & filter paper. The solid sticking mass is Bakelite.
o Precautions:
a) The face of the beaker should not be towards the face of the worker during heating.
b) HCl shouldn’t be poured into reaction mixture very slowly
c) The contact of Phenol with skin should be avoided.
o Uses of Bakelite:
Uses of Bakelite are following.
Substitute:
Bakelite is used as a substitute of Porcelain & other opaque Ceramic materials.
Board/Table Top:
It is used in the area of board & table top games e.g. Billiard balls, Dominoes etc.
Mounting:
It is used in mounting of Metal samples.
It is used in whistles, cameras, solid body & Electric guitars.
Bakelite is very suitable for emerging Electrical & automobile industries because of its extra
ordinary resistance but also due to its thermal resistance.
It has been widely used in jewellery products.
References:
2. Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bakelite