Sodium hydroxide has strong alkalinity and strong corrosiveness. It can be used as acid neutralizer, matching masking agent, precipitant,
precipitation masking agent, color developing agent, saponification agent, peeling agent, detergent, etc.
Sodium hydroxide has strong alkalinity and strong hygroscopicity. It is easy to dissolve in water and gives off heat when
dissolving. The aqueous solution is alkaline and greasy. It is highly corrosive and corrosive to fibers, skin, glass and ceramics.
It reacts with aluminum and zinc, non-metallic boron and silicon to give out hydrogen, disproportionation with halogen such as
chlorine, bromine and iodine, neutralizing with acids to form salt and water.
Sodium hydroxide is mainly used in papermaking, cellulose pulp production, soap, synthetic detergent, synthetic fatty acid
production and animal and vegetable oil refining. Textile printing and dyeing industry is used as desizing agent, scouring agent
and mercerizing agent for cotton cloth. Chemical industry is used to produce borax, sodium cyanide, formic acid, oxalic acid,
phenol, etc. The petroleum industry is used for refining petroleum products and for drilling mud in oil fields. It is also used
for surface treatment of alumina, zinc and copper, glass, enamel, leather, medicine, dyes and pesticides. Food grade products are
used in food industry as acid neutralizer, peeler of citrus and peach, detergent of empty bottles and cans, decolorizing agent and
deodorizer.
When sodium hydroxide is used as a basic reagent, it can be used as neutralizing agent, matching masking agent, precipitating
agent, precipitation masking agent, absorbent of a small amount of carbon dioxide and water, and a chromogenic agent for the
determination of ketosterol by thin layer analysis. It is widely used in the manufacture of various sodium salts, soaps, pulp,
finishing of cotton fabrics, silk and viscose fibers, regeneration of rubber products, metal cleaning, electroplating, bleaching,
etc.