- Sodium sesquicarbonate
Sodium sesquicarbonate (Systematic name trisodium hydrogendicarbonate) Na3H(CO3)2, which is a
double salt ofsodium bicarbonate andsodium carbonate , and has a needle-likecrystal structure. However, the term is also applied to an [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/equimolar equimolar] mixture of those two salts, with whatever water of hydration the sodium carbonate includes, supplied as a powder.The di
hydrate , Na3H(CO3)2·2H20, occurs in nature as theevaporite mineral trona Uses
Sodium sesquicarbonate is used in
bath salts .Sodium sesquicarbonate is used in the archaeological conservation of objects made of
copper and copperalloy s that have been corroded by salt water. Treatment with sodium sesquicarbonate removescopper chloride s from the corroded layer; if these were not removed the object would continue to corrode ("copper disease") while exposed to air.It is also used as a precipitating
water softener , which combines with hard water minerals (calcium - andmagnesium -based minerals) to form an insoluble precipitate, removing these hardness minerals from the water. [http://www.cleaning101.com/laundry/fact/fact_sheet4.cfm] It is the carbonatemoiety which forms the precipitate, the bicarbonate being included to moderate the material'salkalinity .
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