1 lb Potassium Dichromate Powder 99% Lab Grade

Potassium Dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) is a bright orange crystalline solid with diverse industrial and laboratory applications, primarily due to its strong oxidizing properties and its status as a hexavalent chromium compound. It is used as a precursor in the production of potassium chrome alum, which is essential in the leather tanning industry, particularly for calfskin and cowhide. In photography and printing, it serves as a hardening agent for organic colloids like gelatin and gum arabic, enabling processes such as gum bichromate printing and carbon printing, where exposure to light hardens the material, allowing unhardened areas to be washed away. This property is also utilized in screen-printing, where a dichromate-sensitized colloid is applied to a screen and hardened by light exposure, creating a mask for printing.

It functions as an oxidizing agent in organic chemistry, capable of oxidizing primary alcohols to aldehydes and then to carboxylic acids, and secondary alcohols to ketones, while tertiary alcohols remain unaffected. In analytical chemistry, its non-hygroscopic nature makes it suitable for use in classical wet tests and volumetric analysis, such as the determination of ferrous salts, iodides, and sulphides. It is also used in the determination of ethanol concentration, a method historically employed in breathalyzer tests where the orange Cr(VI) color changes to green Cr(III) upon reaction with alcohol.

Other industrial uses include metal finishing and electroplating for decorative and corrosion-resistant plating, corrosion inhibition, and as a catalyst in chromium metal production. It is used in the manufacture of pigments, dyes, and wood preservatives, where it can darken wood, especially mahogany, by staining tannins. In the construction industry, it is an ingredient in cement, where it can influence the hardening time and improve the concrete's density and color. It is also used in the production of pyrotechnics, explosives, and specialty glass, and as a component in solutions like Schwerter’s solution for testing the purity of silver. Additionally, it acts as a wood preservative and is used in oil drilling muds.