Lithium nitrate (LiNO3) is an inorganic nitrate salt, produced industrially by the reaction of lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate with nitric acid. It has several uses, including as a heat exchange media, laboratory reagent and oxidizing agent.
Soluble in Water: Yes
The soluble form, lithium nitrate trihydrate, is deliquescent and has a melting point of 303.3 degrees centigrade (77 degrees Fahrenheit). It is a very efficient oxidizer when mixed with a combustible material and ignited, producing a red flame. It is used in special pyrotechnic devices, as a catalyst to accelerate the breakdown of nitrogen oxides, as a heat-exchange medium, and in a number of refrigeration systems.
A ternary system of lithium nitrate – ethanol and of ethanol – water has been studied in detail by Donnan and Burt (2). A congruently melting trihydrate and a hemihydrate of lithium nitrate were discovered in these experiments; however, no evidence for the existence of a solid alcoholate of lithium nitrate was obtained.
The solubility curves of the two substances can intersect a short distance from the lower-melting compound, which means that compound formation cannot occur unless it is very difficult to separate the substances into individual components. In the case of a system involving two dissimilar compounds, this is rarely the case.
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