News Yous In All Likelihood Shouldn't Use: The Chemic Then Awful It Tin John Forcefulness Out Rust Or Sand

This a a repost from last October that came upward inwards a conversation recently.

Rust.
How the hell produce you lot burn downwardly something that is already oxidized?

Meet Chlorine Trifluoride: The Chemical That Sets Fire to Asbestos on Contact
From Gizmodo, July 2015:

First discovered dorsum inwards the 1930s, chlorine trifluoride is a rather curious chemic that easily reacts, sometimes explosively, alongside simply virtually every known heart too somebody on Earth.

Just to instruct the ball rolling, here’s a few of the to a greater extent than odd things chlorine trifluoride is known to laid halt to on contact: glass, sand, asbestos, rust, concrete, people, pyrex, cloth, too the dreams of children…

Obviously the outset enquiry to response hither is how chlorine trifluoride is somehow able to movement asbestos, a heart too somebody that is known for beingness almost completely halt retardant, to grab on fire. Well, that’s because chlorine trifluoride is a to a greater extent than powerful oxidizing agent past times majority than oxygen itself. Meaning it’s capable of speedily oxidizing things that would commonly live considered practically “impossible” to laid aflame, similar asbestos. Chlorine trifluoride is such an effective oxidizer that it tin fifty-fifty potentially laid halt to things that accept seemingly already been burned up, similar ash or spent charcoal.

The heart too somebody is too then highly reactive that famously unreactive elements similar platinum, osmium too iridium volition start out to corrode when they come upward into contact alongside it. Notably tough elements similar titanium too tungsten are every bit good regarded every bit beingness wholly unsuitable to storing the chemic because they assault halt every bit shortly every bit they come upward into contact alongside it.

The entirely known fashion to shop chlorine trifluoride “safely”, which nosotros purpose inwards the loosest possible sense, is to orbit it within of a sealed containers made of steel, iron, nickel or copper which are able to comprise the chemic safely if they’re outset treated alongside flourine gas. This is because doing too then volition coat the metallic inwards a sparse fluoride layer, alongside which the chemic won’t react. However, if this layer is compromised inwards anyway, or the metallic isn’t completely dry, chlorine trifluoride volition start out to react violently too movement the vessel to explode.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 few of the other things known to non react alongside chlorine trifluoride include nitrogen, the inert gases too polychlorotrifluoroethylene. Rather fortunately, chlorine trifluoride doesn’t react alongside air unless it happens to comprise a larger than average amount of H2O vapor.

Speaking of which, when chlorine trifluoride comes into contact alongside water, it volition react explosively alongside it too every bit a fun byproduct creates large amounts of unsafe gasses such every bit hydrofluoric acid too hydrochloric acid. Hydrofluric acid inwards item is incredibly unsafe too along alongside beingness able to melt things similar drinking glass too concrete, tin permanently harm your lungs too eyes. As if that wasn’t worrying enough, if you’re e'er unlucky plenty to instruct hydrofluric acid on your skin, it doesn’t genuinely wound until a few hours later. After it has absorbed a bit, it starts destroying your nerves too bones too tin ultimately movement cardiac arrest when it gets into your blood stream. In fact, inwards 1994 a lab technician inwards Commonwealth of Australia accidentally spilled hydrofluric acid on his lap too despite straight off executing security procedures including hosing off, immersing himself inwards a swimming pool, too later on extensive medical assist (including needing to accept 1 of his legs amputated), within ii weeks of the accident, he was dead.

Unsurprisingly, the Nazis were really interested inwards the military machine applications of chlorine trifluoride. After all, it’s a heart too somebody that reacts explosively alongside H2O (humans are largely bags of water), too for those that don’t come upward inwards contact alongside it directly, there’s the byproduct of the deadly gasses. Further, at that spot is genuinely niggling 1 tin produce to divulge the fires it causes straight other than to allow them burn downwardly off. If you lot throw H2O on the beginning of the problem, it volition instruct worse. The reaction hither every bit good doesn’t require atmospheric oxygen to burn, too then trying to purpose that method of halt suppression won’t travel either....MORE