Advice for resolving Cu(NO3)2-3H2O issues?

I am currently trying to synthesize some yttrium barium cuprates
(YBCO-123) and have a paper that references the use of Cu(NO3)2-3H2O as
an initial reagent. The difficulty that I am having is in that the
copper nitrate is so deliquescent that it is actually partially
dissolving in it's own waters of hydration, before even cracking the
wax seal on the bottle, making stoichoimetric manipulations of the
material difficult, to say the least. I had the idea of dissolving the
entire unused bottle of the nitrate salt in something like 1M HNO3 and
portioning off the appropriate amount of the solution, then heating to
dryness before adding the other salts, but this introduces problems of
metallic contaminants from the acid, spattering from the heating /
drying process, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for working with
this unruly reagent? Am I simply overlooking something terribly
simple? Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Advice for resolving Cu(NO3)2-3H2O issues?
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