Ferric chloride
Description
A hygroscopic, brown solid used as an etchant in photoengraving as a Mordant to produce a clean vertical edge. Ferric chloride is also used as a mordant in textile dyeing and as a brown pigment in paints and inks. An acidified solution of iron chloride is also used as a reagent to qualitatively test for the presence of Arsenic or Phosphorus in Copper alloys (Odegaard et al 2000).
Synonyms and Related Terms
iron (III) chloride; ferric trichloride; ferric perchloride; iron chloride; iron trichloride; iron perchloride; Flores Martin; Eisen(III)chlorid (Deut.); chlorure de fer (III) (Fr.);
Risks
- Noncombustible.
- Toxic by ingestion and inhalation.
- The corrosive, acidic compound will causes burns on contact.
- Decomposes in heat to form hydrogen chloride gas.
- Fisher Scientific: SDS
Physical and Chemical Properties
Soluble in water, ethanol, ether, acetone. Insoluble in ethyl acetate. Solid is deliquescent forming hexahydrate compound. Dissolution in water is exothermic and produced an acidic solution.
| Composition | FeCl3 |
|---|---|
| CAS | 7705-08-0 |
| Melting Point | 306 C |
| Density | 2.90 g/ml |
| Molecular Weight | mol. wt. = 162.21 |
| Boiling Point | 315-316 C |
Resources and Citations
- N.Odegaard, S.Carroll, W.Zimmt, Material Characterization Tests for Objects of Art and Archaeology Archetype Publications, London, 2000, p. 42.
- Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
- Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
- Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979
- The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 4061
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferric_chloride (Accessed Jan. 25, 2006)