General Description
Odorless white solid. Sinks in water. Interaction with Tellurium is violent.
Reactivity Profile
SILVER IODATE reacts explosively with alkali metals [Bretherick 1979 p. 1028]. Intimate mixture of silver iodate with finely divided aluminum, arsenic, copper, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, hydrides of alkali and alkaline earth-metals; sulfides of antimony, arsenic, copper or zinc; metal cyanides, thiocyanates; or impure magnesium dioxide may react explosively, either spontaneously (especially in the presence of moisture).
Air & Water Reactions
explosive reaction between SILVER IODATE(7783-97-3) and several different metal sulfides, hydrides etc., aided by the presence of water [Bretherick 1995, vol. 2, p. 207].
Health Hazard
Contact with eyes causes irritation. If continued for a long period, ingestion or inhalation of silver compounds can cause permanent discoloration of the skin (argyria).
Chemical Properties
Off-white powder
Uses
As reagent for determining small quantities of chloride, e.g., in blood: Sendroy, J. Biol. Chem. 120, 335-445 (1937).
Purification Methods
Wash the iodate with warm dilute HNO3, then H2O and dry it at 100o, or recrystallise it from NH3 solution by adding HNO3, filtering, washing with H2O and drying at 100o.
