Chlorine Trifluoride: The Chemical That Sets Fire to Asbestos on Contact

First discovered back in the 1930s , chlorine trifluoride is a rather rummy chemical that easy reacts , sometimes explosively , with just about every known substance on Earth .

Just to get the ball pealing , here ’s a few of the more strange things chlorine trifluoride is have it away to set flak to on contact : methamphetamine hydrochloride , gumption , asbestos , rusting , concrete , people , pyrex , fabric , and the ambition of nestling …

Obviously the first question to suffice here is how chlorine trifluoride is somehow capable to induce asbestos , a nub that is known for being almost entirely attack retardation , to take in on fire . Well , that ’s because chlorine trifluoride is a more powerful oxidizing agent by bulk than O itself . intend it ’s capable of rapidly oxidizing things that would normally be consider practically “ impossible ” to set aflame , like asbestos . Chlorine trifluoride is such an efficient oxidiser that it can even potentially set fire to thing that have seemingly already been burn up , like ash tree or spend charcoal .

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The substance is so highly reactive that famously unreactive elements like platinum , Os and iridium will begin to rust when they follow into physical contact with it . Notably tough elements like atomic number 22 and tungsten are also regarded as being wholly inapplicable to stash away the chemical because they place on fire as presently as they do into impinging with it .

The only known way to stash away chlorine trifluoride “ safely ” , which we use in the loosest potential sense , is to put it inwardly of a sealed container made of sword , iron , nickel or copper which are able-bodied to control the chemical safely if they ’re first treated with flourine gas . This is because doing so will coat the metal in a tenuous fluoride stratum , with which the chemical substance wo n’t react . However , if this layer is compromised in anyway , or the metal is n’t completely dry , atomic number 17 trifluoride will start to react violently and cause the vas to explode .

A few of the other things known to not react with chlorine trifluoride admit nitrogen , the inert gases and polychlorotrifluoroethylene . Rather fortunately , chlorine trifluoride does n’t react with aura unless it happens to contain a tumid than mediocre amount of piss vapor .

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Speaking of which , when chlorine trifluoride come into contact with H2O , it will react explosively with it and as a playfulness by-product creates large amounts of dangerous gasoline such as hydrofluoric battery-acid and hydrochloric window pane . Hydrofluric acid in particular is unbelievably grave and along with being able to melt things like glass and concrete , can for good damage your lungs and oculus . As if that was n’t worrying enough , if you ’re ever unlucky enough to get hydrofluric acid on your tegument , it does n’t actually hurt until a few hours later . After it has absorbed a snatch , it starts destroyingyour nerve and bonesand can at last cause cardiac arrest when it gets into your blood flow . In fact , in 1994 a lab technician in Australia incidentally spilled hydrofluric acid on his lap and despite right away perform rubber procedures including hosing off , engross himself in a swim pool , and later extensive aesculapian care ( including needing to have one of his leg amputate ) , within two weeks of the chance event , he was dead .

Unsurprisingly , the Nazis were really concerned in the military applications of chlorine trifluoride . After all , it ’s a substance that reacts explosively with water ( human race are largely bags of water system ) , and for those that do n’t come in contact with it straight , there ’s the byproduct of the lethal gas . Further , there is really short one can do to put out the flak it causes straight other than to let them burn off . If you throw weewee on the reference of the problem , it will get unsound . The reaction here also does n’t require atmospheric atomic number 8 to burn , so trying to use that method of fire suppression wo n’t work either .

Though chlorine trifluoride was thankfully never used during armed combat , the Nazis did succeed in produce several tons of the material in a confidential adroitness bed as the Falkenhagen Bunker before it was captured by the Russians in 1944 . The Nazis work in the Falkenhagen Bunker referred to Cl trifluoride just as “ Substance N ” or “ N - Stoff ” and were plan to store it inside specially designed cuticle which could be used in battle . concord to reports released by the Soviets follow WW2 , Nazi trials involve pith N were promising . But , of course , the weapon system was incredibly life-threatening for those conduct it around too , not just those they launch it at .

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As an instance of the kind of devastation Cl trifluoride can have , you only involve to conceive what happened when almost a ton of this stuff was unexpectedly spilled indoors of a storage warehouse in the 1950s . According to eyewitness reports , the chemical burned straight through a metrical unit of concrete and three foot of gravel while simultaneously releasing a pestilent swarm of gas hold a cocktail of “ chlorine trifluoride , H fluoride , atomic number 17 and hydrogen chloride ” that eat every surface it came into contact with .

After reading this you ’re belike funny about what potential design this chemical could serve that does n’t involve attempt to recreate a scene from a Michael Bay movie . Well , due to the fact that chlorine trifluoride is such a great oxidizer , there have been several attempts to use it as a low - cost , lightweight rocket fuel , starting with the Nazis who tried to use it to propel torpedoes . Of course , it ’s so difficult to store safely that it ’s generally study not to be worth the risk of infection for this usage . After all , while you ’d need to use less fuel thanks to its extreme oxidize capability , if you had a rocket stroke , you ’d potentially be eruct tons of this stuff all over the place with no real efficacious way to deal with the office . For instance , after study and experimenting with this chemical for rocket consumption , rocket scientist Dr. John D. Clark magnificently said about the best way to care with likely chlorine trifluoride rocket accidents- “ I have always recommended a ripe pair of running shoe . ”

There are a twosome other useful diligence though . For case , it ’s expectant for plasmaless cleansing of certain surface used in semiconductor manufacturing and it also works well at cleaninguranium residueoff of the wall of nuclear might plants and removing work up up oxide .

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Bonus fact :

Applying Super Glue ( cyanoacrylate ) to cotton fiber or woolen results in a rapid chemical response that releases enough heat to cause minor burns , so typically this should be keep off . However , if enough cyanoacrylate is added to the cotton or woolen , the fabric will take hold of on fire , making this a cracking trick to keep in psyche in natural selection place . loosely , cotton wool and wool are readily usable and cyanoacrylate is always a good matter to have on bridge player in first aid kit , due to its lesion sealing ability .

atomic number 17 trifluoride was initially first observed back in 1930 by German chemists Otto Ruff and H. Krug after experimenting with chlorine monofluoride , an already dangerous center , and theorising about the existence of “ a higher fluoride species ” . The final stage result of their research was the gaseous phase of Chlorine trifluoride .

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As a gas , Cl trifluoride is colorless and has a notably “ honeyed and pungent ” odour not unalike from pool atomic number 17 . As a liquid , the substance is decidedly more threatening see , taking on the form of a wan green substance . As a satisfying , it ’s white .

Despite how life-threatening it is , atomic number 17 trifluoride could be bring forth for almost next to nothing , with estimated figure in the nineties saying that , if the heart were to be passel produce , a kilo would be deserving about a buck . However , as nobody is masses producing the stuff and nonsense , today 50 grams of Cl trifluoride is deserving over400 dollars .

One of the few substances live to be whole unreactive with chlorine trifluoride is ordinary wax light wax . Wax is similarly unaffected by many of the gasses liberate by Cl trifluoride when it react with other nitty-gritty .

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