Let’s know about Barium Oxide Formula. Barium oxide is a chemical compound of the formula BaO that is formed by thermal decomposition of barium nitrate or by thermolysis of salts such as barium carbonate: BaCO 3 + heat → BaO (s) + CO 2 (G).
Barium oxide are white or yellow crystals. Its format is shown in Figure 2 (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2017).
Barium oxides are crystals with cubic geometry similar to sodium chloride with cubic geometry.
Its molecular weight is 153.326 g / mol, its density is 5.72 g / mL and the melting and boiling points are 1923 ºC and 2000 ºC respectively.
The compound reacts with water to form barium hydroxide. It is soluble in alcohols, acids and alkanes. It is insoluble in acetone and ammonia (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015).
Barium oxide reacts as a strong base. It combines externally with all acid ranges. Reacts with carbon dioxide to form carbonate of barium.
Turn on hydroxylamine on contact. Mixtures with mercury or nickel oxide react vigorously with hydrogen sulfide in the air.
Explosions can happen. In particular, it can react with aluminum and zinc to form metal oxides or hydroxides and generate hydrogen gas, in the presence of moisture.
It can initiate polymerization reactions in polymerizable organic compounds, especially epoxides. It may generate flammable and/or toxic gases with ammonium salts, nitrides, halogenated organic compounds, peroxides and hydroperoxides. (BARX OXIDE, SF).
Reactivity and Hazards of Barium Oxide
Barium oxide is a stable compound, incompatible with water, dinitrogen tetroxide, hydroxylamine, sulfur trioxide and hydrogen sulfide, thereby posing a fire and explosion hazard. The compound can cause cancer.
The compound is toxic. Inhalation, ingestion or contact (skin, eyes) with vapors, dust or substances can cause serious injury, burns or death.
Reaction with water or moist air will release toxic, corrosive or flammable gases. Reaction with water can produce a lot of heat which will increase the concentration of vapor in the air.
Fire will produce irritating, corrosive and/or toxic gases. Effluent from containment water or fire dilution can be corrosive and/or toxic and cause contamination (BARIUM OXIDE, 2016).
In case of eye contact you should check if you are wearing contact lenses and remove them immediately. Eyes should be washed with running water for at least 15 minutes, keeping the eyelids open. You can use cold water. The ointment should not be used for the eyes.
If the chemical comes into contact with clothing, remove it as soon as possible, while protecting your hands and body. Place the victim under the safety shower.
If the chemical gets on the victim’s exposed skin, such as the hands, gently and carefully wash the skin with contaminated water and non-abrasive soap. You can use cold water. If irritation persists, seek medical attention. Wash contaminated clothing before reusing.
In case of inhalation, the victim should be allowed to rest in a well-ventilated area. If inhalation is severe, the victim should be transported to a safe area as soon as possible. Loose clothing such as shirt collars, belts or ties.
If the victim has difficulty breathing, oxygen should be administered. If the victim is not breathing, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should be performed. Always bear in mind that it can be dangerous for the person providing help to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when the inhaled material is toxic, infectious or corrosive.
In all cases, immediate medical attention should be sought (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 2015).
applications
Barium oxide is used as a drying agent for gasoline and solvents. It is used as a coating for hot cathodes, for example, cathode ray tubes.
Lead oxide (II) was replaced in the production of some types of glass such as optical crown glass.
In 1884 it was discovered that barium oxide had the effect of increasing the refractive index without dispersion, a property that became of great value in the design of photographic lenses called anastigmatic lenses.
While lead oxide increased the refractive index, it also increased the dispersive power, which barium oxide did not change (Rudolph Kingslake, 2016).
Barium oxide is also used as an ethoxylation catalyst in the reaction of ethylene oxide and alcohols, which takes place between 150 and 200 °C.
It is also a source of pure oxygen through thermal fluctuations. BaO readily oxidizes to 1 + X by the formation of a peroxide ion.
Complete peroxidation of BaO to BaO 2 occurs at moderate temperatures, but the increase in the entropy of the O molecule at high temperatures means that BaO 2 decomposes into O 2 and BaO at 1175 K.
The reaction was used as a large-scale method to produce oxygen before air separation became dominant in the early 20th century.
The method was named after its inventors Brin process. This reaction was used by Jules Verne to “breathe” the protagonist in his book “The Land to the Moon”.
Although the reaction is correct from a rheometric point of view, Verne did not take into account that the heat source used for the reaction, a flame, consumes oxygen.
