Ammonia odor after coating bullets with HBn

[racesnake]

Just finished coating some bullets with HBn. When I opened the coating container I noticed a strong ammonia odor. I've coated lots of bullets with this stuff and don't think it has happened before. Has anyone else had this occur?
Dave

 

[JRS]

Nothing unusual about the smell. Not to worry

 

[jonbearman]

So ammonia smell is normal then?

 

[JRS]

Ammonia is a part of the make-up of hBN.

 

[racesnake]

What sort of chemical reaction is going on here? Is the nitrogen weakly bonded to the Boron and forming NH3 with atmospheric H2O with agitation?

 

[JRS]

I did some digging and nobody actually lists the impurities in their products on the label. However I did find a patent application for a process of making pure boron nitride that mentions some of the impurities. One possible source of ammonia is decomposition of ammonium borate into boric oxide and ammonia. I try not to think about what the other 2% is in a jar of 98% hBN. I also wear gloves and handle it in a well ventilated area.

http://www.google.com/patents/EP0424094A1?cl=en

It won't hurt you. Most makeup used by women contain hBN.

 

[jonbearman]

What if you get it on your hands,is it toxic or just soap and water for cleanup.

 

[JRS]

There is nothing toxic about it Jon.

As with just about anything, you should wash your hands after handling anything.

 

[46and2]

Why there are ammonia smell of some hexagonal boron nitride - Exhibition - Zibo Kevins Ceramic Materials Co.,Ltd

Why there are ammonia smell of some hexagonal boron nitride

m.nitridematerial.com

I know this is a very old thread. I was wondering about the smell. I do know ammonia and copper don't play well together.

After I get my bullets out of the jar I air them out good before storing them in the bullet boxes.

Oh well, though I might add this read for anyone else wondering.

Why there are ammonia smell of some hexagonal boron nitride - Exhibition - Zibo Kevins Ceramic Materials Co.,Ltd

Why there are ammonia smell of some hexagonal boron nitride

m.nitridematerial.com

How might ammonia be created in this mechanochemical reaction?

Can mechanical agitation catalyze reactions? It appears so (thanks to Mithoron for the pointer!). We observed the following: We were using 10-micron hBN powder to impact-plate copper bearings (e....

chemistry.stackexchange.com

Boron nitride colloidal solutions, ultralight aerogels and freestanding membranes through one-step exfoliation and functionalization - PMC

Manufacturing of aerogels and membranes from hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is much more difficult than from graphene or graphene oxides because of the poor dispersibility of h-BN in water, which limits its exfoliation and preparation of colloidal ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Ray123]

If it's ammonia, that you are breathing...it IS Toxic!
If you breathe it in or ingest more than your liver can handle, you'll have ammonia poisoning.
So read up on it, be on the safe side use on well ventilated area and wash up before eating. Back in the day we never did any of that and I survived...but others who were more careless than me...did not. Like the machinist who washed his oily hands in 1-1-1 tricorthelene before lunch...it took the oil off..turned the skin white where the black grease was, and some went right into the body. He had clean hands, but died early...probably because of the cigarettes. Because the government outlawed its use 15 yrs later..breathed alot of fumes...machined with it, even added it to Hangsterfers Hard Cut for tapping Zirconium. "Good stuff"...and I still prefer the stuff that causes cancer in California...even the brake cleaner...cause I don't live in California. And smirk at a sissy wearing protective gloves doing gun work...we always got our hands dirty and wash up with that gritty harsh soap that takes of the top layer of skin off..everyone was manly.
Times have changed, and it's probably better to check it out and heed the warnings and lean to the safety side..."your body, your choice", as they say...sometimes.

 

[urbanrifleman]

If it's ammonia, that you are breathing...it IS Toxic!
If you breathe it in or ingest more than your liver can handle, you'll have ammonia poisoning.
So read up on it, be on the safe side use on well ventilated area and wash up before eating. Back in the day we never did any of that and I survived...but others who were more careless than me...did not. Like the machinist who washed his oily hands in 1-1-1 tricorthelene before lunch...it took the oil off..turned the skin white where the black grease was, and some went right into the body. He had clean hands, but died early...probably because of the cigarettes. Because the government outlawed its use 15 yrs later..breathed alot of fumes...machined with it, even added it to Hangsterfers Hard Cut for tapping Zirconium. "Good stuff"...and I still prefer the stuff that causes cancer in California...even the brake cleaner...cause I don't live in California. And smirk at a sissy wearing protective gloves doing gun work...we always got our hands dirty and wash up with that gritty harsh soap that takes of the top layer of skin off..everyone was manly.
Times have changed, and it's probably better to check it out and heed the warnings and lean to the safety side..."your body, your choice", as they say...sometimes.

I wear gloves when I machine.

I play guitar. And I have a girlfriend. Both like the fact my hands aren't dried out from washing oil out of my pores.

I also like the safety afforded by them. The glove is a good warning.

And ammonia is quantity is bad for you. That is why I use Boretech Eliminator and not Extreme BMG for cleaning barrels.

 

[Ray123]

I wear gloves when I machine.

I play guitar. And I have a girlfriend. Both like the fact my hands aren't dried out from washing oil out of my pores.

I also like the safety afforded by them. The glove is a good warning.

And ammonia is quantity is bad for you. That is why I use Boretech Eliminator and not Extreme BMG for cleaning barrels.

Sounds like my son, he is married has a suit and tie job...but when he works on motorcycles ...he always wears latex gloves.
Me, still not so much...35 yrs as a professional machinist no gloves were available on the shop floor... so I don't wear them still Dark Heavy cutting oil irritates the skin, harsh chemicals in Hardcut cutting fluid are nauseating for 10 or 12 hrs a day, trichlorethele fumes in open 5 gallon buckets, and used by the 55 gallon drum..finally outlawed its use. White hot Zirconium fires, sometimes more than 1 a day ...some big machines pumped 110 gallons of hot cutting oil & fumes, trepanning large cores, of zirconium.
Gloves were not available as a safety option except for handling acid...then acid gloves were required. There was no hearing protection, mask, or gloves on the job...when I started...2 years later hearing protection became a thing.
Dirty, dangerous, oil, chemical fumes, fighting zirconium fires, men killed, looking for severed fingers in the chip pan...explosion proof walls installed. Everyone has made a trip to the emergency room..that blood pool on the floor is mine... these were the men who built your nuclear arsenal, refuling your necular reactors, aircraft carriers, and submarines, cluster bombs, missile cones. Our million dollar ideas were just part of the gift to humanity free to the company but very profitable for them...my greatest contribution was the fuel rod end cap invention to pull spent nuclear fuel rods from the reactor core...hundreds of millions of dollars made off that idea for the nuclear refuling business.. and a $1700 bonus for me...but I usually never got anything for inventions or ideas ..they belong to the company to sell. Alot of inventions and improvements were made by machinist, the companies patent and market them...and you get to keep your job.
Background... why I'm not concerned about latex gloves on my hands or getting dirty...there were lots of things that will get ya killed, burned, or
dismembered on a daily basis. Split skulls, severed fingers, punctured intestines, metal slivers in the eyes...and much of that was with safety equipment on, or later required.