Benefits for Today’s Industry

The ability of borates to affect alkalinity—and thus promote the formation of negative charges on fabrics and soils—make U.S. Borax products especially effective at removing soil and helping prevent it from being redeposited on fabrics. Borates also reduce interfacial tensions between detergent liquors and fatty soils, helping remove oily soils and stains. Perborates—a form of oxidized borate that contains a peroxide link—are a convenient source of active oxygen, providing non-chlorinated bleaching and stain removal.

Borates help balance acidity and alkalinity—a process known as buffering. This ability has numerous uses, including:

• Inhibiting corrosion
• Water treatment
• Optimizing color levels in dyeing processes
• Preventing cracking and pitting during electroplating
• Achieving correct color balance in photography processing solutions
• Creating neutral glass for pharmaceutical uses

Borates react with suitable alcohols and carbohydrates to link them together chemically. As a result, the viscosity of the fluid can be controlled. This effect can produce starch adhesives and affect their flow rates and their ability to retain or repel water. This cross-linking behavior can also be used to:

• Produce fluids that are used in oil recovery
• Emulsify waxes and paraffins for use in lotions, creams, and ointments
• Reduce glass viscosity during the formation of glass and glazes

Borates can inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi and protect against damage by wood-destroying insects, such as termites. For this reason, borates are widely used to improve the durability of wood and wood-based construction products. They are also used in the formulation of some insecticidal products, as well as to control bacteria and fungi in detergents and personal care items.

Although borides (compounds formed of boron and metallic elements) can be used as effective abrasives, borates are also used to manufacture extremely effective lubricants. Borate polyols and polyamines in lubricants form a low-viscosity, resilient film on metal load-bearing surfaces, improving load capacity and protecting against wear and tear. Potassium borates are used in high-pressure lubricants, thanks to their stable dispersion of microspheres.

As a component of borosilicate glass, which contains between 5 and 20% boric oxide, borates improve resistance to thermal shock, increase aqueous durability and mechanical strength, imbue electrical neutrality, and modify the glass structurally to make it resistant to heat and chemicals. Borates can lower melting temperatures to facilitate the production of durable fiberglass, specialty glass, and ceramic glazes—important components in televisions, computers, and mobile device display panels. And, borates are used in intumescent coatings for steel.