Oxidation potential is one of the keys as to why Retro-Brite works. Oxidation potential (related to, but not to be confused with reduction potential) represents the energy change required to lose (oxidation potential) or gain (reduction potential) electrons. The units of this potential is measured in volts and each species has its own valve. For oxidants, the way I like to think of it is the more oxidation potential (volts) the more “power” to oxidize something (or in our case brighten). Table 1 is a table of some common oxidants. This table is taken from here and it's a great source if you want to read more.
So, why are we talking about oxidation potential on the Retro-Brite Blog? It’s the magic of ANY Retro-Brightening technique. To understand why, let's look at three common oxidants and their chemical formulations are reactions
Hydrogen Peroxide
- The formula for peroxide is H2O2 and that decomposes to H2O plus an O (an oxygen free radical). Remember that oxygen gas is O2 (stable) and O3 is ozone (unstable and breaks into O2). So the decomposition formula looks like this: H2O2 --> H2O + O
Sodium Percarbonate (Oxi-Clean)
- When dissolved in water sodium percarbonate decomposes to soda ash (sodium carbonate) and hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide further decomposes to water and an O radical (see above).
Ozone
- Ozone's chemical formula is O3 and it's relatively unstable. It decomposes into O2 and O
Each one of these chemicals, though the initial product may not have an oxidation potential, when it decomposes it yields a oxidant with an oxidation potential. There are many different ways to generate oxidants, (I've also seen one video using chlorine gas to Retro-Brite which I don't recommend) and combinations of methods (peroxide plus sodium percarbonate is a common way), but they all work the same way -- through generating oxidants.
So what does this mean? Oxidants are reactive and can be classified by their oxidation potential. This potential can be thought of as how much Retro-Britening "power" a method has.
So what we've done at Retro-Brite is formulated Retro-Brite to create a high oxidation potential gel which is still safe to use.
You may be wondering why the sunlight and heat and what happens to the free radicals in the plastic. We’ll answer those questions in our next two posts. But first, let's talk about why sunlight.
Have questions, comments, or feedback on this post or any others? Please email us at support@www.retro-brite.com. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 1: How Retro-Brite Works: Into/Summary
Part 3: How Retro-Brite Works: Why Use Sunlight?
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