Silver Oxide

Silver Oxide powder is a tan to black powder consisting of silver and oxygen with oxidising and catalytic properties and has a variety of applications in chemistry and electronics.

Properties

Colour: Usually tan cubic crystals or heavy brownish-black powder. The colour is related to its chemical structure and crystal form.

Density: Relative density is 7.22, high density, in the process of storage and transport need to pay attention to prevent leakage and flying.

Melting point: Melting point is 280°C (decomposition), it has good thermal stability before reaching the melting point, but it will decompose under high temperature conditions.

Oxidising: it is a strong oxidising agent, capable of reacting with many substances with reducing properties.

Solubility: slightly soluble in water, low solubility in water, about 0.0013g/100ml (20 ℃), but will be due to the formation and similar hydrolysis products and show some solubility behaviour. Easily soluble in ammonia, nitric acid and other solutions, and ammonia reaction will produce the active compound Torun reagent. In addition, silver oxide can also react with alkali metal chloride solutions to precipitate silver chloride.

Instability: sensitive to light, will gradually decompose when exposed to light. It also decomposes above 200°C, releasing oxygen.

Acidity and alkalinity: to a certain extent, it shows the nature of weak base and can have neutralisation reaction with acid.

Other properties: It can be used as colouring agent in glass industry; it has antibacterial effect in cosmetics.

Applications

Electronic industry field:

Manufacture of electronic components: silver oxide is widely used in the manufacture of electronic components, such as varistors, capacitors and so on. Its good conductivity can provide stable current for electronic devices.

Battery Manufacturing: Silver oxide is an important part of silver-zinc batteries (also known as silver oxide batteries). In this type of battery, silver oxide acts as the positive electrode (cathode) and zinc acts as the negative electrode (anode). Silver-zinc batteries have a high energy density, long discharge time and good stability, and are commonly used in small electronic devices such as watches, calculators and hearing aids.

Chemical synthesis field:

Catalyst: In organic synthesis, silver oxide is commonly used as a catalyst. For example, in some oxidation reactions, it can promote the hydroxyl replacement of halogens and other reactions; can also be used to catalyse some coupling reactions, rearrangement reactions.

Oxidising agent: silver oxide is a strong oxidising agent, which can be used to oxidise compounds such as hydroquinone, alkyl phenols and aldehydes.

Glass industry field:

Colouring agent: it can make the glass show a specific colour and is used to produce coloured glass.

Abrasives: used for grinding and polishing of glass, help to improve the surface finish of glass.

Healthcare field:

Antiseptic: due to its antimicrobial properties, silver oxide can be used in the manufacture of medical devices and the production of pharmaceuticals to provide antiseptic and bactericidal effects.

Antimicrobial agent: In some antimicrobial materials and products, silver oxide is added as an antimicrobial ingredient to inhibit or kill microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. For example, silver oxide may be contained in some wound dressings, catheters and other medical devices, as well as in some antimicrobial coatings and antimicrobial textiles.

Other areas:

Carbon Dioxide Remover: in environments such as nuclear submarines, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, silver oxide is used to remove carbon dioxide from moist air. It reacts with carbon dioxide in the presence of water to form silver carbonate, and by heating it can be decomposed to regenerate and recycle carbon dioxide.

Analytical reagent: In the laboratory, silver oxide is used as a reagent in analytical chemistry experiments to help detect and analyse the composition and properties of other substances.

Water purifier: In some specific water treatment processes, silver oxide can be used to purify water and remove impurities and harmful substances in water.