Borax Decahydrate

APPLICATION AND BENEFITS

Borax decahydrate is incorporated into many cleaning products as a pH buffering agent. It aids in the emulsification of oils and serves as a gentle abrasive. The product can be added to powdered hand soaps as an effective way to remove medium-to-heavy soils—such as those encountered in industrial operations—yet it is gentle to the skin. Borax decahydrate is often added to:

• Formulations that are used to clean hard surfaces (eg, metals, glass, ceramics)
• Polishes and waxes
• Industrial institutional cleaning compounds

Laundry detergents

The product helps with the removal of oily soils from fabrics, and imparts alkalinity, pH buffering, and softening of the wash water. Plus, borax decahydrate can be used to stabilize enzymes.

Cosmetics, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals

In contact lens solutions, it is used with boric acid as a gentle cleanser and buffering agent. Borax decahydrate is also used as a cross linking agent to emulsify waxes and other paraffins that form the base for lotions, creams, and ointments.

Industry

Aside from its use as a cleaning agent, borax decahydrate is prized for its ability to dissolve metal oxides where it’s used in the recovery of metals such as brass, copper, lead, and zinc from scrap or smelting slag. In ferrous metallurgy, the product is used as a cover flux to prevent oxidation at the surface of the molten ingot. In welding, brazing, and soldering, borax decahydrate is used to cover the metal surfaces, where it excludes air and prevents oxidation.

Speaking of oxidation, borax decahydrate slows corrosion in aqueous systems, water treatment chemicals, and in the manufacture of automotive and engine coolant formulations. Aqueous solutions of borax decahydrate have replaced chromates in railroad and other diesel engine coolants. And, because borax decahydrate is highly soluble in ethylene glycol, it is especially useful in car antifreeze formulations. It neutralizes the acidic residue that results from the decomposition of ethylene glycol and minimizes the rate of oxidation at the surface of the metal.

In refractories, the borax decahydrate is used as a stabilizer and bonding agent in specialty abrasives. Borax decahydrate also provides an intermediate-temperature glassy bond before the establishment of the ceramic bond.

Paper

Borax decahydrate is also part of the starch adhesive formulation for corrugated paper and paperboard. It is a cross-linking agent in the manufacture of casein-and dextrin-based adhesives, and it greatly improves the tack and green strength of such adhesives by cross linking conjugated hydroxyl groups.

Wire drawing

Borax decahydrate neutralizes the residual acid from the pickling stage, and the deposit of the salt remaining on the wire is valuable as a carrier of dry powdered lubricant.

And, more

Borax decahydrate doesn’t stop there. It’s also used as a flame retardant for cellulosic materials, a buffer and catalyst for organic dyes, a carrier for herbicides, and a degreasing buffer in enameling processes.