HYDROGEN PEROXIDE (H2O2)

Hydrogen peroxide is also known by the chemical formula H₂O₂

In its pure form at room temperature, hydrogen peroxide is a colorless, slightly viscous, inorganic liquid with a weakly acidic pH, a bitter taste and a characteristic sharp odor. Tiny amounts of gaseous hydrogen peroxide occur naturally in the air around us.

Pure hydrogen peroxide is denser than water; it freezes at minus 0.43°C (31.3°F) and boils at 150.2°C (302°F).

Hydrogen peroxide is biochemically formed in human bodies and the bodies of other animals but it is actually toxic to cells.

Hydrogen peroxide is the simplest in the peroxide class, which means its molecules contain two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to one another. Because H₂O₂ is miscible – or totally soluble in water (H₂O) – it’s able to be produced commercially in aqueous solutions of various concentrations or strengths.

Hydrogen peroxide is recognised as one of the cleanest and most versatile of all chemicals. Its strong oxidising properties make it a powerful bleaching agent and popular disinfectant.

Since its discovery by Louis Jacques Thénard in 1818, hydrogen peroxide has been used industrially and in laboratories in concentrations of up to 98 percent purity.

Hydrogen peroxide is a staple inside many of today’s households at much lower concentrations – generally only 3 to 9% – in certain medicines and as a bleaching agent for clothes and human hair.

In industry applications, higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are used as a bleaching agent for paper and textiles, for producing common organic chemicals and foam rubber, and in rocket engine fuel.

Hydrogen peroxide is used as an exceptionally efficient, non polluting oxidising agent, thanks to its low molecular weight. Other industrial uses typically involve the preparation of other peroxides.