Monday, March 18, 2013

Zinc Borate – in Things that Saves Life, Saves Property and Protects Our World

Fire, when erupts and spread uncontrolled causes severe losses of lives and properties. Be it the nature or things that surround us, fire damages and turn to ashes whatever comes in between. Since ages, people have been continuously working to find ways to control the fire and developing materials that are fire resistant. We often see, when the fire break out, there are fire-fighters trying to control it and suppress it with variety of methods, tools and compounds. Among those, a chemical known for its unique properties and is widely used in equipments meant for flame retarding and suppressing of smoke is Zinc Borate.

Zinc borate (or Zinc Salt, Boron Zinc Oxide, Firebreak ZB or Boric Acid), a non-halogen flame retardant, accredited by Environmental Protection Agency is an inorganic and low toxicity amalgam. It is a vital additive to help achieve brilliant resistance in rubber products. It is a free-flowing white powder, which dissolves easily and swiftly. This chemical can be added to any flame retardant mechanism and it will boost test results with minimum effect on the compound properties. For this purpose, they is used in combination with chemicals like red phosphorus and magnesium hydroxide.

So when we talk about its uses in our everyday life, this Boron-based chemical is used to serve the needs of various products and objects that are manufactured in the industries. As in most of the polymer compounds like canvas tents, Zinc Borate diffuses water of hydration at temperatures above 554 degrees Fahrenheit to restrict fire and suppress smoke. It is also used in the production of paints, adhesives, as well as pigments.

In furniture industry, it serves as an excellent chemical for the treatment and protection against termites and other corrosive insects in lumber, wood, hardwood and plywood. Thus constitutes in the longer life of wood due to its preservative properties. At the present time, borates based chemicals have become an important ingredient in different kinds of ceramic tiles and enamel glazes to enhance durability and improve luster.

It must be noted that the utilization of Zinc salt can improve elongation properties of polyolefins as well. Zinc Borate also holds an important place as a flux agent that is used in the manufacturing of electrical insulators in ceramic industry. Apart from the above mentioned uses, borates of Zinc are used as a wide spectrum fungicide (chemicals with antifungal activity for a vast variety of species), used in the protection of wood and plastics. Another major use is as an anti-dripping agent as it suppresses the afterglow in electrical components.

The combination of zinc plus borate moieties renders inimitable functionalities. In addition, the chemical compound performs as synergists along with brominated fire retardants to tailor FR characteristics and CTI. This compound can be utilized in regrinding procedures without any sort of reduction in the original CTI values as well.

Its optimum performance is as a Biocide (fungicide and preservative) and corrosion inhibitor and this is obtained when our product is uniformly dispersed in a coating or composite. With a coating it should be incorporated during the pigment dispersion cycle in the coating preparation process. Zinc Borate is used in conjunction with antimony oxide, while in halogen-free systems, it is normally used in conjunction with alumina trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, or red phosphorus. In some particular applications Zinc Borate can be used alone.

The above mentioned information gives you a brief idea about the commercially most important chemical compound in the field of organic chemistry. This compound is looked as very useful product in various industrial processes. This inorganic compound is highly in demand amongst various commercial manufacturers because of the various useful properties that it offers.

No comments:

Post a Comment