Potassium Hydroxide 90%

Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, and is commonly called caustic potash.

Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), this colorlesssolid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and nicheapplications; most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and itscorrosive nature. An estimated 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes were produced in 2005.Approximately 100 times more NaOH than KOH is produced annually.KOH isnoteworthy as the precursor to most soft and liquid soaps as well as numerouspotassium-containing chemicals.

Properties

Potassium hydroxide can be found in pureform by reacting sodium hydroxide with impure potassium. Potassium hydroxide isusually sold as translucent pellets, which will become tacky in air because KOHis hygroscopic. Consequently, KOH typically contains varying amounts of water(as well as carbonates, see below). Its dissolution in water is stronglyexothermic. Concentrated aqueous solutions are sometimes called potassium lyes.Even at high temperatures, solid KOH does not dehydrate readily.

Potassium hydroxide solutions withconcentrations of approximately 0.5 to 2.0% are irritating when coming incontact with the skin, while concentrations higher than 2% are corrosive.

Solubilityand desiccating properties

Approximately 121 g of KOH will dissolve in100 mL of water at room temperature compared with 100 g of NaOH in the samevolume (on a molar basis, KOH is slightly less soluble than NaOH). Lowermolecular weight alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and propanols are alsoexcellent solvents.

Because of its high affinity for water, KOHserves as a desiccant in the laboratory. It is often used to dry basicsolvents, especially amines and pyridines: distillation of these basic liquidsfrom a slurry of KOH yields the anhydrous reagent.