Anyone know of any yellow metal chlorides ?

[diachi]

I was electrolyzing some sodium chloride ( salt solution ) using metal electrodes ( I know I should have used carbon ) and I got bubbles at the Negative electrode which was most likely the sodium reacting with the water. But at the positive electrode I got nothing , although I should have been getting bubbles for chlorine ( if I used carbon electrodes anyway ) I figured ( since my electrodes are now half the size they used to be ) that the chlorine was reacting with them and forming a metal chloride compound. My solution turned yellow, so I know the electrodes aren't copper, but what metals chloride compounds are yellow, I cant think of any :-?

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

-Adam

 

[brtaman]

its been a while since I had the chance to practice chemistry/physics, so take this with a grain of salt. However, based on memory (after work and college -.-), a magnesium chloride is yellowish? Again this is just one possibility I can remember (not even sure about it either).

 

[diachi]

Magnesium chloride is colorless.

I think my electrodes are copper.

I think this is happening:

When I electrolyze the sodium chloride I make sodium and chlorine, the sodium reacts with the water forming sodium hydroxide ( NaOH ) and the copper reacts with the chlorine forming Copper Chloride ( CuCl([sub]2[/sub]) ) the sodium displaces the copper because it is higher in the electrochemical series and that creates sodium chloride, yet again.

When the sodium reacts with the water it also makes Hydrogen ( still need to test )

I think all that happens is I make hydrogen and use up my water :

Not a clue whats happening to my copper, still need to figure that out .

if I'm wrong someone please say

-Adam

 

[rkcstr]

Could there be chromium in your copper?  It appears it can be used in some copper alloys:

http://www.copper.org/resources/properties/microstructure/chrom_cu.html

Maybe somehow making small amounts of this?  (bit of a stretch, yeah, I know  ;D)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chromate


But, more likely, you have some copper chlorides in there, which are usually green or blue, but looks like there are some yellow forms from reaction with HCl, which can be formed as you suspected and giving you unusual color from these ion complexes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(II)_chloride