Applications
Sodium hydroxide is mainly used in papermaking, cellulose pulp production and soap, synthetic detergent, synthetic fatty acid production and animal and vegetable oil refining. Textile printing and dyeing industry is used as cotton desizing agent, scouring agent and mercerizing agent. The chemical industry is used to produce borax, sodium cyanide, formic acid, oxalic acid, phenol, etc. The petroleum industry is used for refining petroleum products and in oil field drilling muds. It is also used in the production of aluminum oxide, metal zinc and metal copper surface treatment and glass, enamel, tanning, medicine, dyes and pesticides. Food-grade products are used as acid neutralizers in the food industry, peeling agents for citrus, peaches, etc., as well as detergents for containers such as empty bottles and cans, as well as decolorizers and deodorizers.
When sodium hydroxide is used as a basic reagent, it can be used as a neutralizing agent, a masking agent, a precipitating agent, a precipitation masking agent, a small amount of carbon dioxide and water absorbent, a color developer for the determination of ketosterol by thin layer analysis, etc. It is widely used. It is used in the manufacture of various sodium salts, soaps, pulp, finishing cotton fabrics, silk, viscose fibers, regeneration of rubber products, metal cleaning, electroplating, bleaching, etc.
In cosmetic creams, the saponification of sodium hydroxide and stearic acid acts as an emulsifier, which is used to make vanishing cream, shampoo and so on.