Ferrous Sulfate (an official inorganic compound)

Ferrous sulfate (FeSO4.7H2O), traditionally known as "green vitriol" or

"copperas", forms beautiful blue-green crystals of the monoclinic system.
Ferrous sulfate is useful in chemistry as a reducing agent and a source of
ferrous ions. It can also act as a catalyst; an example is Fenton's Reagent,
which is used to destroy organic chemical wastes.

Ferrous sulfate's systematic name is iron (II) sulfate, with the "II" referring
to the +2 valence state of iron.

Occurrence:
It is commonly found as a mineral in form of heptahydrate.it is made
when sulfide minerals like pyrite are oxidized to sulfate.
Properties
Structure:

Formula: FeSO4
Salts: it occurs in form of salts as hydrates FeSO4.xH2O

Commonly occur as heptahydrate (x=7)

Molar mass: 151.908g/mol
Melting point: 70 °C g/mol

Density: 2.84 g/cm³

Soluble in: Water

Color: white crystals (anhydrous form)/

White-yellow crystals (monohydrate)/

Greenish, blue, brown crystals (heptahydrate)

Nature: Crystalline solid

Shape: orthorhombic crystals (anhydrous)

Monoclinic (monohydrate, tetrahydrate, hexahydrate, heptahydrate)

Triclinic (pentahydrate)
Decomposition: when heated to decomposition it emit toxic fumes of sulfur
oxide.

Auto-ignition: Not flammable

Ignition: may ignite on contact with arsenic trioxide and sodium nitrate,
potentially explosive reaction with methyl isocyanoactetate at 25 deg C
Reactive group: weak inorganic reducing agent

Reactivity profile: it is a reducing agent react with oxidizing agents to

generate heat and products that may be flammable, combustible or otherwise
reactive.
Incompatibility: incompatible with alkali, sol carbonates, gold and silver salts,
lead acetate, lime water, potassium iodide, sodium tartrate, sodium borate,
tannin, vegetable astringent infusions and decoctions.

Stability: In moist air ferrous sulfate rapidly oxidizes and becomes coated
with brownish-yellow ferric sulfate. The rate of oxidation increased by the
addition of alkali or by exposure to light.

Availability: 1. Dry powder

2. Pellets large crystals

3. Liquid

4. Other solid forms

Health hazards
Ingestion:

These hazards are dose dependent, over dose may cause;

Abdominal pain

Diarrhea
Dehydration

Shock

Pallor

Cyanosis

Rapid or weak pulse

Shallow respiration

Low blood pressure

Retching
Liver injury

Metabolic acidosis

Inhalation:
Skin, eye and respiratory irritation

Handling:
The crystals you will grow in this experiment will probably contain some
sulfuric acid trapped in their crystal structure. It's best to assume that
touching ferrous sulfate crystals will cause chemical burns.

Any residual H2SO4 present should not appreciably enter the air at normal
temperatures; sulfuric acid has a very low vapor pressure at 25 °C. If the
crystals are kept in a tightly sealed container, any H2SO4 that does evaporate
will recondense in the container. Open it in a well-ventilated area.

Emergency treatment:
Give milk as antidote

Induce vomiting by stroking pharynx with blunt object or with ipecac syrup

Gastric lavage with 1 pint of 5% solution of mono or disodium phosphate

otherwise use water

Interactions:
Of ferrous sulfate with others:

Simultaneous administration of iron as ferrous sulfate reduced absorption

and causes significant decrease in serum concentration of tetracycline (impair
GI absorption by chelation or other type of binding in gut), oxytetracyclin,
methacyclin, doxycycline.

Of others with ferrous sulfate:

Magnesium trisilicate either changes the ferrous sulfate into less easily
absorbed iron salts, or increases its polymerization by rendering it less easily
absorbed

Sodium bicarbonate causes the formation of poorly absorbed iron complexes.

Antacid tablets also decreases its absorption.

Interaction with food:

Although it is best absorbed when taken in empty stomach, but it causes

nausea and GI upset so it is most often taken with food which reduces its
absorption

Ferrous sulfate can be prepared by various methods like:

 Reacting iron with sulfuric acid, this reaction makes hydrogen gas and
leaves behind iron (II) sulfate.
 It can also be made by oxidation of pyrite, an iron sulfate material.
2FeS2+7O2+2H2O 2FeSO4+2H2SO4

 It is obtained in the finishing of steel prior to plating or coating, the steel

sheet or rod is passed through pickling baths of sulfuric acid, this
treatment produces large quantities of iron (II) sulfate as a byproduct.

Fe+H2SO4 FeSO4+H2
I. Preparation of FeSO4 solution.

 Lab temperature should be kept below 25°C.

 Degrease the steel wool by immersing it in acetone for half an hour.
 Remove it from the acetone and let it dry in a well-ventilated lab.
 During this whole time there must be no ignition sources nearby. Do
not attempt to evaporate the acetone with a heat source. Even an
electric lamp could cause ignition.
 Place the glass beaker in the center of a metal pan or wide glass dish
  The reaction can produce minor spattering as hydrogen bubbles to the
surface of the acid.
 Place the degreased, dry steel wool in the glass beaker and pour in
enough 30-40% sulfuric acid to cover it completely. Don't use
concentrated acid. If the steel wool is not fully submerged, carefully
push it down with a glass rod.
 The sulfuric acid will begin to dissolve the steel, producing hydrogen
gas. Over the course of several hours the steel wool will gradually
disappear. Carefully add more steel wool.
 Repeat this a few times. Reddish-brown, insoluble ferrous
Compounds will form.
 If you add too much steel wool; just add some dilute sulfuric acid if this
happens. The pH of the solution should be acidic at any given time,
otherwise the ferrous ions will oxidize to the ferric state.

II. Filtering

 Green crystals should have started forming in the solution and settling
to the bottom after just a few hours. They may become tangled up in
any steel wool that's still left; don't bother trying to free these.
 When you're satisfied with the amount of ferrous sulfate that has
formed, add excess water that's been acidified to a pH between 2 and 4
using sulfuric acid. Add enough of this acidified water to re-dissolve all
the green crystals that have settled out. If the solution turns brown, add
just enough sulfuric acid to make it green again.
 Filter this solution through filter paper. Discard the solids and the
paper; neutralize their acidity with some dilute sodium carbonate
solution. Save the filtrate. It should now be free of steel wool pieces,
carbon (from the steel), rust, and other solids. Keep the solution in a
covered container to minimize contact with atmospheric oxygen.
 If the pH is not kept low enough, ferrous sulfate will oxidize to ferric
sulfate on standing. Normally, atmospheric oxygen changes Fe2+ to
Fe3+ quite readily. This reaction is reversible, however, by lowering the
ph. Below 4 or so, ferrous ion is heavily favored over ferric, with the
 concentration of Fe3+ becoming vanishingly small at pH 1-2. Aqueous
FeSO4 in this pH range is stable for days, even with much air contact.


III. Evaporation

 The filtered solution is put in a shallow, glass container such as a petri

dish or crystallizing dish. Place this on the hot plate and turn it to the
laboratory oven.
 Slowly heat the solution to about 80 to 90 C; do not boil it. Hold it at
this temperature until about half the liquid has evaporated.
 Don't breathe the vapors given off; although they will be mostly water,
they will contain some sulfuric acid. The color of the solution may
change to yellowish, but don't let this discourage you. On cooling it
becomes green again.
 Allow the solution to cool to room temperature and place the shallow
dish on crushed ice. Leave it there for at least an hour. Don't let it sink
into the water as the ice melts.
 Remove the dish from the cold and place it on the lab bench in your
locked laboratory (remember, the liquid contains sulfuric acid!). Let it
stand for 24 hours.

Green crystals should form. If not, the cause is probably one of the following:

1. You didn't evaporate the solution down far enough.

2. The pH was too high.

3. The ambient temperature was too high.

4. Your sulfuric acid was contaminated with something that oxidized Fe2+.

 Decant or pipette off the yellowish liquid that remains after the crystals
have formed. It is strong sulfuric acid, so be careful with it. Use a
 dropper to add it slowly into a cold, dilute solution of NaOH, sodium
carbonate, or ammonia.
 Do not handle ferrous sulfate with your fingers. Use a plastic or steel
spatula.
 Crystallizing mostly completed

Note; Crystals to 1 cm or larger were readily attainable, starting with only a

10 mL micro beaker's volume of dilute sulfuric acid and some steel wool.

IV. Washing

Just use distilled water cooled to just above freezing. As the washing removes
the strong sulfuric acid from the surface of the crystals, the atmosphere will
unfortunately oxidize them more readily. Larger crystals are more desirable
because less FeSO4 will oxidize. Don’t crush or powder the crystals

V. Drying;
  If no desiccator is available, dry the ferrous sulfate crystals in air at the
lowest humidity
 Drying in a desiccator: place some calcium chloride drying pellets and a
desiccant in the bottom of jar. The ferrous sulfate shouldn't contact the
desiccant material. Let them dry just enough to get the excess water off
the crystals, then put them in a tightly-sealed container where moisture
can't get to them.

Desiccator containing CaCl2

As drying agent, crystals of
ferrous sulfate are dry and
crumbly.

Applications
Therapeutic uses:

1.) Use in iron deficiency anemia

Dose: ferrous sulfate 150-300 mg thrice daily for 3 weeks

2.) use as a supplement for pregnant ladies

Dose: 30-60mg daily

3.) Use for low birth weight infants

Dose: 0.3-0.6 mL pediatric drops daily

4.) use as astringent for wound healing

Agrochemical uses:

Herbicide

Industrial uses:
1. Adsorbents and absorbents
2. Intermediates
3. Solids separation agents
4. Pigments
5. Paints and coatings
6. Water treatment products