a year ago i made KI3 by failing to add enough Cl2 to a KI solution. my mistake was that the tube leading to the KI soln was forced above the surface because of pressure.
so i’ve had this 60mL bottle of potassium triiodide in water for about a year now and the label on the bottle has begun to show stains, which is weird. i kind of want to finish the oxidation get iodine crystals.
last time i used HCl+NaOCl after fractionally crystallizing the hypochlorite from bleach. i know it sounds pretty crazy, but i kept the water of crystallization and it didnt explode. but come to think of it, i should be able to crystallize again, then add these crystals to the KI3 solution to yield KCl and I2 because aqueous NaOCl is effectively NaOH+Cl2 in this scenario and as the Cl2 reacts, the equilibrium will be pushed towards creating more Cl2.
come to think of it i could add the rest of my KI and i could just convert it all to I2 at once.
so, my problem is finding the best possible way to collect the iodine crystals and dry them.
i have a 500mL erlenmeyer flask, two 400mL beakers, a glass u tube, a glass funnel, a 500mL florence flask, a 100mL graduated cylinder and a crucible.
and no rubber stoppers.
so i was thinking of possibly performing the initial reaction in the florence flask then sort of draining the excess water off, then heat to, say, 75 celsius and allow the iodine to sublime upwards into the u tube and down into a collecting flask containing anhydrous MgSO4.
my problem is that the u tube won’t fit perfectly into the top of the florence flask, so i’ll need to seal whatever gaps with duct tape. or would duct tape and/or the adhesive thereon be attacked by the iodine? luckily, on the other end, i could put my funnel upside-down with the stem inside the u tube and the funnel leading into the collecting flask.
next, i’d use a similar apparatus and heat the iodine at, say, 50 celsius to have it sublime and go to a final collecting flask where it will (hopefully) be dry.
what say you? is there an easier way?