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Sodium dithionite

 

 
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Sodium dithionite
 
 
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Sodium dithionite (also known as sodium hydrosulfite) is a white crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
line powder with a weak sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
ous odor. Although it is stable
Stable

File:H?ststall Elfviks g?rd dec 2008.jpgA stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stall s for individual animals....
 under most conditions, it will decompose in hot water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 and in acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
 solution
Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
s. It can be obtained from sodium bisulfite
Sodium bisulfite

Sodium hydrogen sulfite or sodium bisulfite is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NaHSO3. Sodium bisulfite is a food additive with E number E222....
 by the following reaction
Reaction

Reaction may refer to:*Response to another event*Adverse drug reaction*Chemical reaction*Light reaction*Nuclear reaction*Reaction , as defined by Newton's third law...
:

2NaHSO3 + Zn ? Na2S2O4 + Zn(OH)2


compound is a water-soluble salt
Salt

A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
, and can be used as a reducing agent
Reducing agent

A reducing agent is the element or compound in a redox reaction that reduces another Chemical species. In doing so, it becomes oxidized, and is therefore the electron donor in the redox....
 in aqueous solutions.






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Encyclopedia


Sodium dithionite (also known as sodium hydrosulfite) is a white crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
line powder with a weak sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
ous odor. Although it is stable
Stable

File:H?ststall Elfviks g?rd dec 2008.jpgA stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stall s for individual animals....
 under most conditions, it will decompose in hot water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 and in acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
 solution
Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
s. It can be obtained from sodium bisulfite
Sodium bisulfite

Sodium hydrogen sulfite or sodium bisulfite is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NaHSO3. Sodium bisulfite is a food additive with E number E222....
 by the following reaction
Reaction

Reaction may refer to:*Response to another event*Adverse drug reaction*Chemical reaction*Light reaction*Nuclear reaction*Reaction , as defined by Newton's third law...
:

2NaHSO3 + Zn ? Na2S2O4 + Zn(OH)2


Applications


Industry

This compound is a water-soluble salt
Salt

A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
, and can be used as a reducing agent
Reducing agent

A reducing agent is the element or compound in a redox reaction that reduces another Chemical species. In doing so, it becomes oxidized, and is therefore the electron donor in the redox....
 in aqueous solutions. It is used as such in some industrial dying processes, where an otherwise water-insoluble dye can be reduced into a water-soluble alkali metal
Alkali metal

The alkali metals are a chemical series of chemical elements comprising Periodic table group of the periodic table: lithium , sodium , potassium , rubidium , caesium , and francium ....
 salt. The reduction properties of sodium dithionite also eliminate excess dye, residual oxide, and unintended pigments, thereby improving overall colour quality. It can also be used as a bleach
Bleach

A bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household "chlorine bleach", a solution of approximately 3?6% sodium hypochlorite , and "oxygen bleach", which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfat...
, in, for instance, paper
Paper

Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
 pulp, cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
, wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
, and kaolin clay
Clay

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
.

This chemical can also be used for water treatment, gas purification, cleaning, and stripping. It can also be used in industrial processes as a sulfonating agent or a sodium ion source. In addition to the textile industry, this compound is used in industries concerned with leather, foods, polymers, photography, and many others. Its wide use is attributable to its low toxicity LD 50
LD50

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 , or LCt50 of a toxic substance or radiation is the Dose required to kill half the members of a tested population....
 at 5 g/kg, and hence its wide range of applications.

Biological sciences

Sodium dithionite is often used in physiology
Physiology

Physiology is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. Physiology has traditionally been divided between plant physiology and animal and all living things physiology but the principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular organism is being studied....
 experiments as a means of lowering solutions' redox potential (Eo' -0.66 V vs NHE at pH 7). Potassium ferricyanide
Potassium ferricyanide

Potassium ferricyanide is the chemical compound with the formula K3[Fe6]. This bright red salt consists of the coordination compound ferricyanide....
 is usually used as an oxidizing chemical in such experiments (Eo' ~ 436 mV at pH 7). In addition, sodium dithionite is often used in soil chemistry
Soil science

Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including pedogenesis, soil classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils....
 experiments to determine the amount of iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
 that is not incorporated in primary silicate minerals. Hence, iron extracted by sodium dithionite is also referred to as "free iron." The strong affinity of the dithionite ion for bi- and trivalent metal cations (M2+, M3+) allows it to enhance the solubility of iron, and therefore dithionite is a useful chelating agent. When you heat the reaction, rainbow colors emerge due to the high transition states of energy.

Geosciences

Sodium dithionite has been used in chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery to stabilize polyacrylamide polymers against radical degradation in the presence of iron. It has also been used in environmental applications to propagate a low Eh front in the subsurface in order to reduce pollutants such as chromium.

See also

  • Dithionite
    Dithionite

    The dithionite ion, S2O42-, is a sulfur oxoanion formally derived from the hypothetical compound dithionous acid, H2S2O4....