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141-53-7
futurechem
141-53-7
project | information |
Chinese name | Sodium formate |
English name | Sodium formate |
Molecular formula | HCOONa |
molecular weight | 68.01 |
CAS number | 141-53-7 |
Appearance | White crystalline powder or granules – slightly hygroscopic |
Solubility | Easily soluble in water—97.2 g/100 mL (20°C), soluble in glycerol, slightly soluble in ethanol. |
pH of aqueous solution | Weakly alkaline (approximately 7.0~8.5) – Formic acid hydrolyzes in strong alkaline solutions. |
Melting point | 253°C (Decomposition – producing sodium oxalate + H₂↑) |
Core chemical characteristics | Weak reducing properties + Non-corrosive properties + High-temperature pyrolysis |
This is the largest single use of sodium formate in developed economies.
De-icing agent | Effective minimum temperature | Metal corrosion | Asphalt/concrete erosion | Environmental residues | Use of airport runways |
Sodium chloride (NaCl) | -10°C | High Cl⁻ severely corrodes aluminum alloys and steel | Chlorides penetrate concrete cracks, promoting freeze-thaw damage. | Na⁺ Soil and vegetation damage | Prohibited – Corrosion of aircraft skin is unacceptable. |
Calcium chloride (CaCl₂) | -40°C | High—Same as above | Medium-high | Ca²⁺ is beneficial — Cl⁻ is the same as above. | Limitations – Causes of Cl⁻ corrosion similar to NaCl |
Sodium formate (HCOONa) | Approximately -20°C | Extremely low – virtually no electrochemical corrosion | Extremely low | Good—HCOO⁻ is oxidized by microorganisms into CO₂ and H₂O within days to weeks in water and soil. | Widely used – the main force in runway and taxiway de-icing at major airports in Europe, America, and Japan. |
Potassium formate (HCOOK) | -30°C and below | Extremely low | Extremely low | Same as above | It can be used interchangeably with sodium formate in lower temperature ranges. |
In the chrome tanning process, sodium formate is typically used at a rate of 0.5% to 1.0% of the hide's weight. It plays two roles in the pickling bath:
Role | mechanism | Target parameters |
fake acid | HCOO⁻ gently binds to the basic groups (-NH₃⁺) of skin collagen, reducing the surface positive charge, delaying the "occupation" of acid on the surface, and guiding acid penetration into the skin core. | Acid bath pH 2.8~3.2 |
Acid immersion buffer | The formic acid/sodium formate buffer pair stabilizes the pH in the pickling bath—with the addition of chrome tanning agent—ensuring precise control of the bath pH between 2.8 and 4.0—with optimal crosslinking of Cr³⁺ with leather fibers within this window. | After the addition of chrome tanning agent, the pH slowly rises to 3.8-4.0. |
Sodium formate is an industrial precursor for several bulk chemicals:
Downstream products | Route starting from HCOONa | use |
Sodium dithionite (Na₂S₂O₄) | HCOONa + SO₂ + NaOH → Na₂S₂O₄ + Na₂CO₃ + H₂O | The world's most important reducing bleaching agent—for pulp, textiles, and clay. |
Formic acid (HCOOH) | HCOONa + H₂SO₄ → HCOOH + Na₂SO₄ (Na₂SO₄ crystals are separated from formic acid) | Preservatives, antibacterial agents, pH adjusters—for feed and food |
Oxalic acid ((COOH)₂) | 2 HCOONa → (heated to approximately 400°C) → Na₂C₂O₄ (sodium oxalate) + H₂↑ → H₂SO₄ Acidification → Oxalic acid | Metal rust removal, bleaching, rare earth extraction |
In these industrial chains, sodium formate serves as a chemical bridge connecting the inexpensive syngas product "carbon monoxide" with end-product chemicals such as "sodium hydrosulfite/formic acid/oxalic acid".
In high-pressure deep wells, drilling fluids require high density to withstand the high pressure underground. Sodium formate solutions, with densities reaching 1.3-1.4 g/mL, can serve as a solid-free (containing no heavy solid particles such as barite powder) lightweight weighted brine. In drilling and completion operations to protect oil and gas reservoirs, solid-free drilling fluids prevent barite powder from clogging the formation pores, thus protecting the production capacity of oil and gas wells.
Sodium formate saline has the advantage of lower cost over potassium formate saline—but in heavy-duty weighing scenarios where extremely high density (> 1.5 g/mL) is required, cesium formate (CsCOOH) has replaced it.
Sodium formate plays a similar role to CaCl₂ in the concrete industry—but without introducing Cl⁻—and can therefore be used in reinforced concrete and even prestressed concrete—areas where CaCl₂ is prohibited.
HCOO⁻ ions have different chemical properties from Cl⁻—they do not produce chloride-induced localized corrosion and pitting on steel surfaces. Sodium formate, as a non-chloride accelerator, has a stable but small market in winter repair projects and precast concrete components in cold regions.
Sodium formate's weak reducing properties are utilized in certain dyeing processes in the printing and dyeing industry—to protect dyes from excessive oxidation in high-temperature and alkaline baths. In some pigment and stabilizer formulations, sodium formate acts as a buffer and reducing component.
Sodium Formate (CAS 141-53-7) is the "mildest" of all chemical de-icing agents. It lacks the corrosiveness of NaCl, the exothermic burns of CaCl₂, and the hygroscopicity of MgCl₂. It is a non-corrosive de-icing solution specifically designed for airplane runways—the most fragile combination of materials (aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, precision sensors) on humanity's most expensive mode of transportation.
Scene | Why sodium formate and not chloride? |
Airport Runway | Cl⁻ corrodes the aluminum alloy skin of a Boeing 737—HCOO⁻ No—not even a milligram of corrosion current can generate it. |
Leather acid bath | HCl instantly creates a hard shell on the skin surface—HCOONa gently occupies the space, guiding the acid to penetrate into the core of the skin. |
Winter construction of prestressed bridges | CaCl₂'s Cl⁻ permeates into the steel strand—the prestress collapses after ten years—sodium formate does not. |
Sodium hydrosulfite production line | Sodium formate captured from CO2 exhaust gas is reduced by SO₂ to sodium hydrosulfite, used worldwide for bleaching paper and textiles. |
Its entire chemical value is based on one of the simplest organic anions—HCOO⁻. It contains only one carbon, one hydrogen, and two oxygen atoms. From airport runways to chrome tanning baths, from drilling brine to sodium hydrosulfite—this smallest and oldest organic acid anion travels through the chemical industry, between humanity's most expensive equipment and the softest leather.
