[maxvortex]

Hi to all !

Can i dissolve quartz with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide mix ?
I dont want to use HF acid.

Best regards !

[billnotgatez]

I did GOOGLE and there were many sites that gave an insight to the properties of quartz.
Several sites suggested high base pH may work.
Note that you have to use caution when using bases as well.

[maxvortex]

Hi.
I google it before but there isnt much about whole process.
Chemical forum should be far more adequate for this :-)

From chemical point of view, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar would form what kind of "compound " ?

Isn't hydrogen peroxide enough ?

Maxvortex

[billnotgatez]

It would be interesting if you put a very small piece of quartz in a test tube and observed the effects of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.
Then you could report your observations to the forum.
But do it in a safe way.

I assume you read this source
http://www.quartzpage.de/gen_chem.html
The Quartz Page
along with the WIKI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_dioxide

By the way
My guess is not much better than 120 mg/l
Prove me wrong

[Enthalpy]

What kind of test tube do you use for a chemical intended to dissolve quartz (hence silica and glass too in my mind)? PTFE?

I remember, as a student for semiconductor processes, putting concentrated HF in a measuring tube of glass. My colleague and I observed a nice snow falling in the tube until we realized we had botched something. After that, the tube wasn't as transparent as before.

Is peroxide+acid a recipe for etching quartz or rather for metals or semimetals?

[maxvortex]

i found some names for this mix.
It's called paracetic acid. I dont know the exact recipe for mix ( accept from the guy from YT ) but i saw that other guys are using this for separating gold from quartz. Anyhow, it should be safer then HF acid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV77aZLDQJw



M.V.

[Arkcon]

I doubt peroxyacetic acid, even at its most concentrated, will work.  Even hydrofluoric, acting on fumed silica, requires boiling conditions for 2 hours to dissolve it all.  Ref: USP Monograph, Assay, Fumed Silica.  You're not going to dissolve flakes, chips or shards of silica easily.  Yes, just a bit of HF or base will ruin the optical properties of a glass surface, but not dissolve the mass.

[maxvortex]

 Yes, just a bit of HF or base will ruin the optical properties of a glass surface, but not dissolve the mass.*** Hmm, HF is hard to get and it looks to agressive.

1.)
Tell me, would there be any use if i mix vinegar and KOH ?
Any would this effect on gold  / silver / copper ?
Am asking this because i have some small amount of KOH left...

2.)
Dumb question but what would happen if i melt quartz with
copper/quartz mix
silver /quartz mix
gold/ quartz mix 

Quartz has higher melting point so can I use this for separations process ?

Max

[Arkcon]

Tell me, would there be any use if i mix vinegar and KOH ?

Um ... you don't see a problem with this plan?

Dumb question but what would happen if i melt quartz with

We've told you before, just heating everything to get some metal out is wasteful and not effective.

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=86760.0

[maxvortex]

Um ... you don't see a problem with this plan?
:-) , yea. Bad idea .

OK, thank you all for suggestions.

MV

[P]

, would there be any use if i mix vinegar and KOH ?

Acid + Base = Salt + Water

i.e. - it is going to react and neutralise. The products won't etch your glass (let alone dissolve your quartz ;-) ).

What exactly are you trying to do here? Why does the quartz need to be dissolved? Is it for a separation?

[SteveE]

As a former gold prospector, I have found many gold in quartz specimens. To the best of my knowledge, HF is the only way to dissolve quartz. In all my years in that field, I've never heard of another substitute that works.