XII.—On the Behaviour of the Hydrates and Carbonates of the Alkali-Metals, and of Barium, at High Temperatures, and on the Properties of Lithia and the Atomic Weight of Lithium

Abstract

The fragmentary nature of our knowledge of the behaviour of the more strongly basilous hydrates and carbonates at high temperatures is owing chiefly to the absence of a suitable material for the necessary crucibles. Unfortunately there is no metal which combines the infusibility of platinum with the chemical inertness of gold, in opposition to fiery-fluid caustic alkalies. But the corrosive action of these on platinum, as I showed some years ago, is a function only of the peroxides formed from them by the action of atmospheric oxygen, and, consequently, can easily be prevented by operating in an atmosphere of hydrogen or nitrogen.

Thermodynamics of the LiOH + H2O System

“…Literature solubility data for LiOH(s) and LiOH·H 2 O(s) and the ice melting curve are plotted versus temperature in Figure . Several data sets − have not been retained because of their inconsistency with the general trend depicted by more extensive measurements. − , The old freezing point depression data of Pickering 2 extrapolate within 0.5 K into the position of the eutectics determined more recently by Ennan and Lapshin . The selected data 1-4,24 have been fitted to simple polynomials in which T is the absolute temperature and m is the LiOH molality.…”