perborate

A chemist adds sodium perborate to a beaker of water.

Definition

1. Noun (Chemistry):
   • A salt or ester of perboric acid: "perborate" refers to a chemical compound containing the anion BO₃⁻, typically used as a bleaching agent or oxidizer, especially in laundry detergents and cleaning products.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The laundry detergent contains sodium perborate to whiten clothes. (A chemical bleaching agent used in cleaning.)
  • Perborate compounds are stable under normal storage conditions. (Chemical compounds that remain unchanged when kept properly.)

Advanced Usage

• "Perborate bleaching": the process of using perborates to remove stains or whiten materials.

  • Perborate bleaching is effective at high temperatures. (The bleaching action works best when the water is hot.)

• "Perborate as an oxidizer": in organic chemistry, perborates serve as mild oxidizers for certain reactions.

  • The chemist used sodium perborate to oxidize the alcohol to a ketone. (The perborate was employed as a chemical reagent to add oxygen.)

Variants and Related Words

• Perboric acid (n): the parent acid of perborates, H₃BO₄, which is unstable and exists only in solution.

  • Perboric acid decomposes readily into boric acid and hydrogen peroxide. (The acid breaks down quickly into simpler compounds.)

• Sodium perborate (n): the most common form of perborate, used in detergents.

  • Sodium perborate is a white, crystalline powder. (A solid chemical used in cleaning products.)

Synonyms

• Bleaching agent: a substance used to whiten or remove color.
• Oxidizer: a chemical that adds oxygen to other substances in a reaction.

Phrasal Verbs

Related Idioms