I’m doing some fun chemistry demos for a kid birthday party. I’m planning on making Elephant Toothpaste, in which 30% hydrogen peroxide rapidly decomposes and makes foam (with the help of some dish soap). The reaction is typically catalyzed by potassium iodide, but I’m out of luck finding any. The party is this weekend, so I can’t order online. I understand it is sometimes used in photo developing, but a local photography shop doesn’t have it. Also no luck finding a survivalist store that would have the tablets (sometimes used to treat radiation exposure).
Is there some other easily obtained material I could get that would catalyze the reaction (almost) as effectively? Some web sites have recommended active dry yeast as a “kid-friendly” alternative, but I’m a little doubtful.
Assuming you are going to experiment before the party, rather than hoping it works right the first time, you could try “tincture of iodine”, available at a drugstore. I don’t know if it would work, but it might. Then too, common table salt is chemically similar to potassium iodide, and iodized salt actually contains potassium iodide, so you might try those first.
Chemist in a previous life, but that doesn’t help me now (obviously, since I can’t figure out a catalyst substitute on my own). I found it as half of a wood bleach product (Daly’s, which appears to be available only on the West Coast). It’s actually only 25%, but close enough. I’m also told that health food stores sometimes sell it, although I didn’t find any through that route. People drink it (diluted) because they think the extra oxygen has magical properties.
