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In this video we make sulfuric acid from sulfur and water using electrolytically generated bromine as the catalyst.
Warning: Bromine and sulfur bromides are volatile and toxic. This might be done outside or in a fume hood.
We start with 16g of sulfur in a 250 ml beaker. We install 5 lantern battery carbon electrodes for the anode and a copper wire for the cathode. To this setup we add 200mL of 5M hydrobromic acid. The copper cathode is readjusted to be as physically close to the top of the electrolyte as possible while still being immersed in it. A current is then applied of less than 2 amps. The electrolysis is performed for 40 hours with occasional stirring and addition of water to make up for evaporative loses.
Whats happening is the electrolysis converts hydrobromic acid to bromine and hydrogen. The hydrogen bubbles away and the bromine reacts with sulfur to produce disulfur dibromide. This in turn reacts with more bromine and water to produce sulfuric acid and hydrobromic acid.
At the end of the run, the solution is filtered and then refluxed for 30 minutes to drive the conversion to completion. The solution is then distilled to first recover water, then hydrobromic acid and finally sulfuric acid.
