Problems with hydrothermal reactions in the laboratory
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I am just starting to work with hydrothermal reactions to prepare catalysts. The reaction mixture is placed in a stainless steel reactor, and the hydrothermal reaction takes place at 220°C for 24 hours. Is it better to put the reactor in an oven or in a muffle furnace?
It is usually an oven, but this also basically reaches the upper limit of the oven’s temperature; be careful! Muffle furnaces aren’t entirely unsuitable; it’s just that the chamber size of ordinary muffle furnaces is relatively small, so it might not be possible to fit it in. One final reminder: to ensure experimental safety, it is essential to understand the thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical reactions before conducting the experiment. It is necessary to know whether small molecules may decompose during the reaction, releasing large amounts of energy, and whether any toxic or harmful substances could be generated. This helps to prevent excessive pressure from building up, exceeding the pressure limit of the reactor and causing it to deform. At the same time, since it is an experiment conducted under high temperature and pressure, the experimenters must also take proper safety precautions, such as wearing goggles and face shields or working inside a fume hood.