Borax Crystallization

By, AJ Bonanno, Conall Keohane, Mitchell Bidart

Brief History of Borax:

Borax was first discovered by the Tibetans
in the 8th century. They made this
discovery near the dry lake beds of Lake
Yamdrok Cho. The native Tincal people
from the different regions of Tibet, Persia,
and all around Asia created the first borax
trade and used the Silk Road trade network
to primarily monopolize the Borax
compound.

They used the Silk Road to trade borax across all of Eurasia where it was commonly traded and
used to create borosilicate glass. “The earliest
reference to borosilicate glass (glass made from a
mixture of silica and boric oxide) comes from
China, where Zhao Rukuo described glassmaking
by Arabs and others in 1225: "Borax is added so
that the glass endures the most severe thermal
extremes and will not crack." The earliest
European mention of borax in glass occurs in a
German work by Johann Kunckel in 1679, giving
recipes for artificial gems.” (Zheng)

Borax is a naturally occurring soluble salt that

contains boron and it was once mined and collected from the ancient lake beds in Death Valley
National Park. (Stringfellow) between the years 1873 and 1881. “Borates were first discovered
in North America in Northern California’s Tehama County in 1856. Evaporated surface deposits
of crude borax called tincal (The version of the borax that normally occurs in
nature.)(Na2B4O7·5H2O) had been recognized in Death Valley and surrounding areas during the
country’s first round of “borax fever” in the spring of 1873.” (Stringfellow) Borax mining was
popularized due to the value that Borax presented in the 1880s.
The borax boom of the 1880s drove many prospectors to Death Valley, but there was a
problem with transporting the miners and borax to out-of-site locations for refinement and
distillation. During this time the “Amargosa Valley and nearby lands, driven by rumors that a
new rail transport line was in the works which could connect the Mojave Desert with shipping
hubs near the coast.”(Stringfellow) Borax was mined in the inhospitable desert of Death Valley
California by Aaron and Rosie Winters’ after making the discovery when a stranger explained
the process of finding borax within the earth.
“Francis Marion Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company began to market and popularize a
large variety of applications under the famous 20 Mule Team Borax trademark, named for the
method by which borax was originally hauled out of the California and Nevada deserts in large
enough quantities to make it cheap and commonly available.” (Cargohandbook.com)
Today we use borax in several different household products such as household cleaners
and laundry detergents. However, that is not all that borax is used for. Borax is used in
toothpaste, mouthwashes, lotions, skin creams, moisturizers, sunscreen, acne care products,
paint, and ceramic glazes. (Smith Mat).

Caption A Borax miner at the entrance of a mine

Chemical Explanation:
Some physical properties of borax are that it has a mass of 381.38 g/mol and it also has a
high solubility. The density of borax is 1.7 and it has a refractive index of 1.472. Borax is solid at
room temperature and has a boiling point of 1575 degrees Celsius. These properties determine
several factors that contribute to its use in this art experiment.
First, the fact that it is soluble makes it possible for crystallization because part of
crystallization requires the material to be dissolved in water or another solution. Also Borax is
solid at room temperature which makes it practical to use in art because if it were not solid at
room temperature you would need to keep it in an environment that would be difficult to display
as art. Due to its density of 1.7 it will sink in water, which allows it to dissolve much more
readily. Some chemical properties of borax are that it is flammable with a yellowish flame, it
reacts with acids to create boric acid, it is very soluble in ethylene glycol and slightly soluble in
acetone. The fact that it is quite soluble as mentioned above makes it useful for crystallization.
Also, because it reacts with acid to make a less powerful acid it can be used to neutralize some
things and can kill pests.
Crystallization is a physical change by which one
substance in a mixture separates itself from the mixture
and forms solid, crystalline particles with other
molecules of the same substance. Crystallization makes
the beautiful crystal that we wish to create in this project
and the crystal you see in nature. Recrystallization is when a solution of compounds is
dissolved in hot water and cooled and as it cools one substance crystallizes it is technically part
of crystallization. Dissolution is where one liquid, solid, or gas dissolves into a solvent. The
solubility of water increases as it heats and then falls when it cools causing crystallization. You
can also use dissolution to combine 2 or more substances. Ionic bonding is a form of chemical
connection in which one atom loses valence electrons and gains them from another giving one a
positive charge and the other a negative charge this makes atoms stay together and make crystals
and other solids possible. Covalent bonds are the interatomic linkage that results from the
sharing of an electron pair between two atoms.
Borax is a molecule made up of four boron atoms, seven oxygen atoms, and two sodium
atoms. All of the atoms are covalently bonded, except for the sodium and oxygen at each end,
which are ionically bonded.
As is observable in Diagram 1, two of the boron atoms are in triangular geometry and
two of the boron atoms are in tetrahedral geometry. However, they form square-shaped crystals.
The important part (for most purposes) is that all of these bonds are polar, which allows
the borax molecule to be dissolved in water. The solubility of borax is essential for not only
crystal art, but also most of its other common uses.
Water is a polar molecule, with a positive
charge on one end and a negative charge on the
other end. When it comes into contact with
another molecule that has polar bonds (like
borax), the opposite charges in the molecules are
attracted to each other. This results in the water
molecules essentially disassembling the
substance that is being dissolved, in this case,
borax. This is why the borax seems to disappear
into the water because it is being pulled apart by
the water molecules. The borax will form new
ionic bonds with the water.
When the borax solution is allowed to sit undisturbed for a time, the borax will start to
reassemble itself because as the water cools it can’t hold as much dissolved borax. However,
because it has been disassembled and scattered around by the water, it will not come back
together into the powder form that it originally had. Instead, crystallization will take place, as
discussed above.

Reflection:
Our project is aimed at showing that even mundane things can become something
beautiful. We are demonstrating this by taking several normal and unremarkable household items
and converting them into crystal-covered artwork. We were inspired to create crystal art because
the people in our group all thought that growing crystals was an interesting and
thought-provoking concept that we all wanted to explore. This project can make beautiful,
interesting, and unique pieces of art that show that mundane things can become great art pieces.
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