PPD is solvent in what?

I was wondering what P-phenylenediamine is solvent in. I just received 100g of the stuff but it is of course in a big lump so I won't be able to measure it. I would like to put it into a percent solution so I am more easily able to utilize it. PG, TEA ? Any suggestions? Does it keep well in H2O?

Thanks

Patrick

It keeps poorly.

It is soluable in sulfuric acid solution with sulfite as a preservative. I could not give you an offhand suggestion as to how to do this, as it is more normal today to use substituted PPDs such as CD2, CD3, and CD4. They work much the same way and come as crystalline acid salts.

PE

You could try quartering it to measure smaller amount with reasonable accuracy. Powder the PPd and make a pile on a piece of paper, take something like a cake knife with a straight blade and cut through the pile, moving half away to the side, do this again at 90 degrees and you have 4 piles of 25 gm each. Repeat htis procedure again with one pile and you have 6.25 gm per pile. Again and you have 1.56 gm per pile.
A usable substitute sometimes if you do not have a scale. Take care with toxic items.

Mortar and pestle does wonders.

I collect the big and little chunks, it measures very nicely.

Hot Water is needed, but it dissolves readily if you grind the PPD finely.

I broke my lumps up with the butt-end of a screwdriver and then measured out the PPD with the teaspoon method.

Curious, which formula do you plan to make?

df cardwell said:

Mortar and pestle does wonders.

I collect the big and little chunks, it measures very nicely.

Hot Water is needed, but it dissolves readily if you grind the PPD finely.

Click to expand...

PPD often gets gooey or tarry. Using a mortar and pestle only turns it into a paste in this case and mashes it into the unglazed portions of the mortar and the pestle.

It can be weighed out and then dissolved in concentrated sulfte with sulfuric acid as I said above. In fact, all color developers are measured out that way to insure that the PPD does not decompose.

It is quite unstable in water. In fact, if you try to dissolve it in water, you get a colored solution that is a mixture of decomposition products. Adding a pinch of sulfite clears the color at the expense of adding it too late and getting low activity.

It is the same as with metol and HQ only more so.

PE

Hello Patrick,
be very careful when handling PPD. It is very toxic and maybe carcinogenic. Use gloves! It causes brown stains on skin, table and clothes which cannot be removed any more.

1. Assume everything is bad for you.
2. Rinse mortar.
3. Don't use mortar for food.

It really isn't that difficult to keep dry, and use as it is needed

and store just like glycin

I keep mine in the freezer, in a well sealed jar. Mine came as lightly purple coloured flakes, and so far they have not changed by keeping them frozen.

and yes, it stains. I use mine in a replenished Harveys 777 developer. Combined with the silver in the seasoned solution, it either stains you up front, or after you have been out in a lit environment, and then try to wash up in some soap. The alkanine soap, combined with residual ppd and glycin lets the silver blacken on your skin quite well. Then it si just a matter of waiting for the stained skin to waer away for the stain to fade.

The first round of this tought me that the nitrile gloves I have should be on my hands, and not hanging on the edge of the sink when using this stuff.

How about boric acid instead of sulphuric?

patrickjames said:

How about boric acid instead of sulphuric?

Click to expand...

The sulfate salt is more soluable than the borate salt, but it might work. The key is to have sulfite there in high enough concentration.

I have spent most of my adult life working with PPD developers, and have handled them in all conditions. The only bottom line is keep them acidic with sulfite present.

PE