What is Sodium Percarbonate?

Sodium percarbonate, an inorganic compound, is a strong oxidising agent, with the chemical formula 2Na2CO3-3H2O2, is a white crystalline powder, which can release oxygen in case of moisture. Sodium percarbonate is the addition compound of hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate, which is mainly used as bleaching agent and oxidising agent, as well as decontaminating agent, cleaning agent and sterilising agent in chemical industry, papermaking, textile, dyeing and finishing, foodstuffs, medicine and hygiene.

I. Application Fields

It can be used as rinsing agent and colour rendering agent in textile industry, and can also be used as disinfectant and sterilizer, deodorant and milk preservative alone. Sodium percarbonate has the advantages of non-toxic, non-odour, non-pollution, etc. It has the characteristics of bleaching, sterilisation, washing and good water solubility.

Sodium percarbonate is usually used as an additive in laundry detergents, it has the effect of oxygen bleaching and can effectively increase dissolved oxygen in fish pond management. In commercial use, it is usually wrapped with sulphate and silicate to get coated sodium percarbonate to improve the storage stability requirements in laundry detergent formulations.

A more traditional laundry bleaching additive is sodium perborate. The advantage of sodium percarbonate lies in its storage stability and good compatibility with other laundry detergent ingredients, which is unrivalled and irreplaceable by sodium perborate. In terms of chemical structure, the essential difference between them is that sodium percarbonate exists as an adduct, while sodium perborate is a peptide bonded product.

1. Chemical products

Sodium percarbonate is commonly known as solid hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), commonly known as hydrogen peroxide, is a colourless liquid at room temperature which is difficult to ionise and decomposes easily. As a classic chemical product, the industry started to produce it more than a hundred years ago. With the growth of social demand, especially the need for ecological and environmental protection, hydrogen peroxide has become more popular in recent years and has been called the "green oxidant". For the convenience of storage, transport and use, alcohol precipitation is used to convert it into solid sodium percarbonate crystals (chemical formula: 2Na2CO3-3H2O2), which has the duality of Na2CO3 and H2O2. Alcohol precipitation production process is as follows: at 0 ~ 5 ℃, to the saturated Na2CO3 solution, first add H2O2 and hydrogen peroxide stabiliser (composite stabiliser sodium silicate + EDTA (mass ratio of 2 : 1), w = 0.35% ~ 0.45%, or sodium silicate + magnesium sulfate + EDTA (mass ratio of 1 : 1 : 1), w = 0.35% ~ 0.45% .

After sufficient reaction, then add isopropyl alcohol, filtration, liquid separation, that is, sodium percarbonate crystals. After treatment, granular oxygen, i.e. solid granular oxygen, can be obtained, which is used for three-dimensional oxygenation and water purification in fish ponds. Multifunctionality of detergents, that is, while washing and decontamination, both bleaching, bactericidal, disinfection and other functions, has become the development trend of detergents, many foreign detergents are added with bleaching components, and the domestic also gradually to this development. As sodium percarbonate is odourless, non-toxic, easy to dissolve in cold water, strong decontamination, dissolved in water can release oxygen and play a bleaching and bactericidal effect, in line with the trend of modern detergent development.

Traditional powder detergent mostly use sodium perborate, but sodium perborate has the disadvantages of slow dissolution, expensive and boron on crops. Sodium percarbonate than sodium perborate low cost, good solubility, suitable for cold areas and winter use, and will not harm crops, so sodium percarbonate in the production of detergents in the application of increasing, at present, sodium percarbonate has been widely used in domestic and industrial washing, bleaching, bactericidal agents for synthetic fibres, animal fibres, synthetic resin fibres, pulp fat and other areas of production, the effect of bleaching is good, does not damage fabrics, does not yellow. It has good bleaching effect without damaging the fabrics and does not yellow.

2. Washing Chemicals

For example, in Japan, the amount of sodium percarbonate added to heavy-duty colour bleaching washing powder is 10% (mass fraction, the same below); in foreign countries, the amount of common enzyme bleaching washing powder is 8%; in Japan, the amount of new stain removal detergent is 20%; in China, the amount of anti-dust bleaching washing powder is 8%. Since the 1980s, the market demand for detergents in western industrialised countries has been growing at an average annual rate of 10%.

In China, the current application of sodium percarbonate in the production of detergents is in its infancy, and some manufacturers have begun to combine sodium percarbonate with other effective detergent additives, such as Unishine's high-efficiency washing machine cleaning blocks and laundry cleaning blocks.

Currently, in the face of fierce market competition, detergent manufacturers also want to add sodium percarbonate to improve product performance, especially the production of low-phosphorus or non-phosphorus laundry detergent powder, through the addition of sodium percarbonate, can make the product to the high-grade, non-toxic, multi-functional direction of development. China is a big country of detergent production, the current production capacity has reached more than 220,000t/a, if calculated according to the addition of 5%, only the detergent industry needs to consume 100,000t of sodium percarbonate per year, which shows that China has a huge market potential for sodium percarbonate.

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3. Medical Health

Sodium percarbonate mixed with solids containing polyvinyl acid and any compound catalyst such as Cu, Fe, Co, Mn, etc. When first-aid oxygen, add an appropriate amount of water, oxygen can be decomposed, simple and convenient, and the amount of oxygen supply is large. This oxygen source is suitable for families (especially rural families), the army, underground construction and mining, flood control, firefighting and disaster relief and other first aid occasions, is an excellent performance of the first aid oxygen agent.

According to conservative estimates, only the Beijing-Tianjin area for medical oxygen source of sodium percarbonate needs about 400 tonnes / year, part of the export of sodium percarbonate is also used in this regard. Sodium percarbonate is also a bactericidal disinfectant, which can kill common germs such as Escherichia coli, staphylococcus and hepatitis virus. It can be used as a bactericidal disinfectant in hospitals and public places, denture cleaner, disinfectant for tableware and fruits, and soap steriliser.

4. Others

Sodium percarbonate can be used for food preservation and disinfection, 1% sodium percarbonate aqueous solution can make fruits and vegetables stored for 4-5 months without deterioration. It has been used in large quantities in the food industry in the West, and China has also formulated industry standards for the food additive sodium percarbonate according to the standards of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, so as to better guide enterprises to use sodium percarbonate in order to help promote its consumption in the food industry. In addition, sodium percarbonate can replace calcium peroxide as the aquaculture industry's oxygen generator, oxygen release rate is significantly higher than calcium peroxide, and can be given in the storage and transport process of fish, shrimp, crabs and other living creatures oxygen preservation.

With the continuous development of China's aquaculture industry, the dosage of sodium percarbonate in this area will be rising year by year. Sodium percarbonate can be used as a textile, printing and dyeing finishing agent, unlike chlorine bleaching is easy to fade and other shortcomings, adapted to the synthetic fibres that are not suitable for chlorine bleaching, animal fibres, synthetic resin fibres and fluorescent whiteners processed fibre rinsing finishing. Sodium percarbonate can be used as an oxidant in the reaction of aldehyde to phenol hydroxyl, organoborane oxidation, nitrile hydrolysis, sulphur ether and amine oxidation, olefin epoxidation, ketone oxidation, α-diketone fracture oxidation, etc. In addition, sodium percarbonate can also be used as an oxidising agent in metal bleaching and finishing. In addition, sodium percarbonate can also be used as metal surface treatment agent, electroplating detergent, sewage treatment agent and polymerisation control agent.

II. Protective Measures

Keep room air clear and equipped with air circulation device. Avoid dust and aerosols, do not operate in confined spaces, make frequent observations to determine exposure hazard values and keep exposure hazard values below the protection standard values.

Usually no special protection is required, but when the operating environment is uncertain or dusty, or the environmental hazard level exceeds the upper limit, air respirators, self-contained breathing apparatus, oxygen respirators, filtering gas masks (semi- and full-face masks) dust masks and other protective equipment should be used, and chemical safety protective eyes and protective masks should be worn. Avoid skin contact with products, wear chemical resistant gloves (recommended materials: PVC, neoprene, etc.). Choose to wear various types of work protective clothing according to specific conditions.

Protective facilities include: eye wash, safety shower, anti-poison penetration coveralls, rubber boots.

Wash hands and other body contact areas with soap and water after work and before eating. Chemicals must be washed off the body before eating or smoking.

Dispose of overpacks in accordance with government regulations by emptying and washing containers, then dispose of them in accordance with government regulations.

1. Emergency Measures

2. Leakage Response

Isolate the leaking contaminated area and evacuate all uninvolved personnel. Emergency responders are advised to wear self-contained breathing apparatus and disinfectant clothing. Do not come into direct contact with the leak. Do not allow leak to come into contact with organic materials, reducing agents, or flammable materials.

Small leakage: Collect with a clean shovel in a dry, clean, covered container.

Large leakage: Collect for recycling or transport to a waste disposal site for disposal.

Flush leaked contaminated area with plenty of water.

III. Disposal of Storage

1. Keep room temperature below 40°C and relative humidity below 75%.

2. Take care to protect against moisture and rain. Keep the container tightly closed and make sure the label is intact. Handling should be light to prevent damage to packaging and containers, and to maintain normal pressure venting of containers. Do not transport in rainy weather.

3. It should be stored separately from flammable or combustible materials, reducing agents, sulphur, phosphorus, etc., and should not be stored and transported together. Avoid contact with other substances that may cause decomposition of the product.

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