Sil Horwitz (silh@earthlink.net)
Fri, 22 Oct 1999 11:43:08 -0400
At 1999/10/22 11:59 AM +0200, Gerard de Vrueh wrote:
>I need to know the formula of: sodium meta borate (also known as kodalk).
>
>I would like to buy some for making a pyro dev.
Interesting that you are having problems, as most chemical dealers in the
US have it. It is sodium metaborate (NaBO2) made by fusing sodium carbonate
and sodium borate (borax) in equal molecular weights. Nothing really
substitutes for its unique properties, as it is considered a buffered
alkali even though it has a very high pH, much higher than sodium borate. I
know it was available at Jessops in the UK, but some sources may have
discontinued it because of its very limited usage now. Kodak has been
trying to get out of toxic materials, and all the boron compounds are toxic.
Incidentally, making a mixture of sodium hydroxide or carbonate and sodium
borate will not work the same way, as they hydrolyze differently, and the
resulting solution does not have the buffering capability.
Sil Horwitz, FPSA
Technical Editor, PSA Journal
silh@earthlink.net
Visit http://www.psa-photo.org/
Personal page: http://home.earthlink.net/~silh/
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