For more than 200 years, people have used bleach or sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) as a disinfectant. Available in powder and solution form, it is a common household chemical and has applications in the paper and textile industry. Despite this long history and long list of uses, the crystal structure has yet to be determined.
A paper published in the magazine last month Angie Kemi The first X-ray single crystal structure provided water sodium hypochlorite.
The structure of whiteness! A single crystal structure of long-lost hydrophilic and hydromite salts has now been reported @filip_to Joe Marret @TH_Borchers @ hatemtiti85 Chris Barrett @mcgillu @McGillChemistry @Ange_Kem https://t.co/5EnK6d76Jv
– @TomislavFriscic July 22, 2021
Tomislav Frisik, of Maggil University, who led the project, told CNN: “I think it was one of the things that was hidden.
Because the strong sodium hypochlorite is absorbed at room temperature, the team conducted X-ray diffraction studies at -100 ° C. They observed alternating layers of water-filled sodium (na +) and hypochlorite (ClO–) ions and water molecule chains:
They found that sodium hypobromite (NaOBr) also had a similar structure.
Asked if decrypting the structure would help build a better bleach, he told C&EN magazine: “Probably not. This is not an invention, but it is really beautiful.”
For the first time since the first fusion in the 18th century, researchers discovered the structure of a blue crystal using X-ray crystalgraphy https://t.co/XoLaXJeSnb pic.twitter.com/cc5WJZ8bn8
– The World of Chemistry (@ChemistryWorld) August 17, 2021
X-ray crystalgrapher Christine Beaver told chemistryworld.com that “hypohalites are like the things you learn in chemistry in the first year, they are all well made and dusted.” “The most common crystallography is the crystallography, and the most difficult thing is that the crystals seem to melt within themselves,” she said.
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