Sodium percarbonate

Sodium percarbonate is a chemical substance with formula Na2H3CO6. It is an adduct of sodium carbonate ('soda ash' or 'washing soda') and hydrogen peroxide (that is, a perhydrate) whose formula is more properly written as 2 Na2CO3 · 3 H2O2. It is a colorless, crystalline, hygroscopic and water-soluble solid. It is sometimes abbreviated as SPC. It contains 32.5% by weight of hydrogen peroxide. Sodium percarbonate is a chemical substance with formula Na2H3CO6. It is an adduct of sodium carbonate ('soda ash' or 'washing soda') and hydrogen peroxide (that is, a perhydrate) whose formula is more properly written as 2 Na2CO3 · 3 H2O2. It is a colorless, crystalline, hygroscopic and water-soluble solid. It is sometimes abbreviated as SPC. It contains 32.5% by weight of hydrogen peroxide. The product is used in some eco-friendly bleaches and other cleaning products, and as a laboratory source of anhydrous hydrogen peroxide. Sodium percarbonate was first prepared in 1899 by Russian chemist Sebastian Moiseevich Tanatar (Russian: Севастьян Моисеевич Танатар) (7 October 1849, Odessa – 30 November 1917, Odessa). At room temperature, solid sodium percarbonate has the orthorhombic crystal structure, with the Cmca crystallographic space group. The structure changes to Pbca as the crystals are cooled below about −30 °C. Dissolved in water, sodium percarbonate yields a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (which eventually decomposes to water and oxygen), sodium cations Na+, and carbonate CO2−3. Sodium percarbonate is produced industrially by crystallization of a solution of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide, with proper control of the pH and concentrations. This is also a convenient laboratory method. Alternatively, dry sodium carbonate may be treated directly with concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution. World production capacity of this compound was estimated at several hundred thousand tonnes for 2004. As an oxidizing agent, sodium percarbonate is an ingredient in a number of home and laundry cleaning products, including non-chlorine bleach products such as Oxyper, OxiClean, Tide laundry detergent, and Vanish.