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In common usage, peroxide is an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide (HOOH or H2O2) sold for use as a disinfectant or mild bleach. The usual peroxide of commerce is a dilute solution containing traces of stabilisers, and is sold in either brown glass or opaque polyethylene bottles to minimise the rate of decomposition. The concentrations sold are generally either 3% w/v or 6% w/v; these are sometimes described as "10 volume" and "20 volume", respectively. This refers to the relative volume of oxygen gas produced, at STP, from the complete decomposition of the peroxide. 20 volume peroxide is strong enough to bleach skin it touches, causing unnaturally white blotches.
Due to the presence of catalase in bloodBlood is a circulating tissue composed of fluid plasma and cells ( red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). Medical terms related to blood often begin in hemo or hemato ( BE: haemo and haemato from the Greek word for "blood". Blood of different spe, peroxide is only marginally effective in disinfecting open wounds, but excellent for bleaching blood stains. It is also often used as a disinfectant in the dairyOxford, New York, July 2001 In many northern-hemisphere countries a dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffaloes or goats) for human consumption. The end product of such processes are kno industryFor other uses of this term, see Industry (disambiguation An industry is an area of economic production which involves large amounts of upfront capital investment before any profit can be realized. The most successful industries in a given sector tend, to because after application it leaves absolutely no harmful residues.
In organic chemistryOrganic chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds. Organic nomenclature Organic nomenclature is the system established for naming and grouping organic compounds. Aliphatic co, peroxide is a specific functional groupIn ecology functional groups are collections of organisms based on morphological, physiological, behavioral, biochemical, or environmental responses or on trophic criteria. In organic chemistry functional groups are submolecular structural motifs, charact or a molecule containing that functional group.
Organic peroxides tend to decompose easily to free radicalIn chemistry free radicals are uncharged atomic or molecular species with unpaired electrons or an otherwise open shell configuration. These unpaired electrons are highly reactive, so free radicals are likely to take part in chemical reactions. Free radics of the form:
This makes them useful as catalystEnthalpy profile for catalysed and uncatalysed reactions. A is the activation energy for an uncatalysed reaction, A is the reduced activation energy for the same reaction when catalysed. I represents the point at which a chemical intermediate has been fors for some types of polymerisation, such as the epoxy resins used in glass-reinforced plastics. MEKP ( methyl ethyl ketone peroxide) is commonly used for this purpose.
However, the same property also means that organic peroxides can accidentally initiate explosive polymerisation in materials with unsaturated chemical bonds. Since peroxides can form spontaneously in some materials, great care must be taken with such "peroxide forming materials". In addition, liquid ether in the presence of air slowly (over a period of more than a year) forms solid "ether peroxide" crystals which are extremely unstable. Consequently it is recommended that containers of ether opened more than a year previously, or exhibiting signs of crystal growth, should be disposed of as hazardous waste.