Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate (TSPP)

About This Product

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate has the formula Na4P2O7 and CAS number 7722-88-5. It is produced by heating disodium phosphate until two units condense and eliminate water, and is supplied as a white crystalline powder or granule giving an alkaline solution around pH 10. As the shortest of the condensed phosphates it sits between the simple orthophosphates and the long-chain polyphosphates, and its behaviour reflects that. It sequesters calcium and magnesium, though less strongly than SHMP, and it is a powerful dispersant: adsorbed onto suspended solids it increases their surface charge so they repel each other and stay dispersed rather than flocculating. That is why it is used to thin drilling muds, where a mud that has thickened with drilled clay can be brought back to a pumpable viscosity with a small addition, and in pigment and filler slurries for the same reason. In detergents it acts as a builder, tying up hardness ions so surfactant is not consumed, while its alkalinity assists soil removal. It is also used in metal cleaning and as a dispersant in latex and paper coating. It is used in detergents and industrial cleaners, drilling mud conditioning, pigment and mineral dispersion, metal treatment and water treatment. Bio Green Chem supplies TSPP to specification on assay, pH, loss on ignition, water-insoluble matter, fluoride and heavy metals.