video tutorial Sodium percarbonate preparation

Name: video tutorial - Sodium percarbonate preparation
Uploaded: 2025-12-11T09:03:44.254Z
Duration: 9 min 12 s
Description: In this video we're going to create another hydrogen peroxide adduct, only this time with

Goal: synthesize sodium percarbonate (an adduct of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide) and note it does not involve adding extra oxygen to the carbonate.
Apparatus and initial setup: 250 mL beaker with stir bar; 100 mL water; dissolve 59 g anhydrous sodium carbonate (hydration affects weight); use a 1.25:1 molar ratio to maximize peroxide capture; stir until dissolved.
Hydrogen peroxide addition: 75 mL of 30% H2O2 in water cooled to ~10 °C; mixture rapidly crystallizes into a solid; product is gelatinous and insoluble-looking.
Precipitation enhancement and drying: cover and refrigerate for ~1 hour to maximize precipitate; filter with a large funnel; drying is challenging; repeated breaking and packing routine performed for about 2 hours.
Product and yield: final product described as fluffy with clumps; weighs just over 80 g, but maximum theoretical yield ~70 g, indicating residual water; desiccation needed for a true dry yield.
Filtrate testing: attempted to minimize residual peroxide; observed effervescence when filtrate contacted with scratched beaker; MnO2 test indicates substantial remaining H2O2; reaction not 100% efficient.
Smaller-scale trial with regular-strength peroxide: 15 mL water, 6 g Na2CO3; dissolved; diluted 10 mL of 30% H2O2 to 40 mL (~8% solution); after mixing and chilling, gelatinous mixture with a white precipitate forms; filtration yields ~1.7 g (below 20% yield); pharmacy peroxide yields are poor.
Other attempts: dissolving carbonate directly in warmed peroxide did not succeed and caused decomposition.
Tests and comparisons: decomposition tests with MnO2 show vigorous activity, but less than the urea-peroxide adduct from a prior video; peroxide by weight in percarbonate and urea-peroxide adduct are surprisingly close, suggesting similar stability and that the percarbonate product is relatively stable.
Practical notes: sodium carbonate hydrate forms as water is released during decomposition; oxygen is released slowly; the percarbonate is a potential concentrated H2O2 source for reactions; future behavior and uses to be explored (e.g., potential reactions or detergents).
Conclusion: the urea-peroxide adduct remains more exciting; the percarbonate provides a concentrated H2O2 source but with low and variable yields depending on conditions; further experiments planned.