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Chemistry Forums for Students => Inorganic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Edward on March 21, 2008, 05:43:58 AM

Title: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: Edward on March 21, 2008, 05:43:58 AM

does anyone know what tests are available for testing hydrogen peroxide?  I have an unknown liquid suspected to cause H2O2 poisoning in a patient.  How do I test it?  Thanks.

Title: Re: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: Arkcon on March 21, 2008, 07:15:49 AM

Do you know of common reactions of hydrogen peroxide?  One should spring to mind pretty quickly.

Title: Re: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: Edward on March 21, 2008, 08:00:31 AM

any standard methods for H2O2 testing?

Title: Re: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: Arkcon on March 21, 2008, 09:15:20 AM

Well, I was assuming this is a beginners chemistry question, so I thought I'd start out simple.  Have you used household strength hydrogen peroxide for any reason?  Do you know what it does when used, and why?  Can you tell us some more about your particular problem -- the peroxide poisoning of a patient?  Class assignment?  Mystery novel writing?  Genuine criminal investigation with other facts available?

*[EDIT]*

Ah, just checked your previous posts. Okay, H₂O₂ rapidly decomposes with a number of catalysts.  I suppose chemically, NaI or Manganese dioxide are common ones, you can Google those.  Another common catalyst is the enzyme catalase -- virtually all living things produce it, and it can be purchased in purified form.  Large amounts of H₂O₂ rapidly fizz on contact with catalase, but trace amounts, I'm not so sure.  Peroxide is a powerful oxidizing agent, but finding a red-ox titration (I know you tend to favor those) that is specific for just peroxide may be difficult.  As for other tell-tale traces, peroxide breaks down to water and oxygen, and they're ubiquitous.

Title: Re: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: hmx9123 on March 23, 2008, 01:19:40 AM

If you're looking for trace method detection, you may want to look through some recent homeland security literature (if it's not classified) as there is a lot of work going into H2O2 detection these days.

Title: Re: Test for hydrogen peroxide
Post by: Edward on March 24, 2008, 12:49:08 AM

I am not looking for trace method for H2O2.  Instead I want to check the identity of an unknown liquid suspected to cause H2O2 poisoning.  This liquid may be low conc. household strength aqueous solution (3%-6% by weight), commercial strengths of more than 10% or 35-70% as used in industry.  Just want to have a specific test for H2O2 in these concs. 
Thanks!