Sodium Gluconate is a gluconic acid’s sodium salt after the glucose fermentation and is a prominent material used in multiple industries. Various companies use it as a cleaning agent, a PH buffer in drinks, a chelating agent, and a dyeing agent. Moreover, Sodium Gluconate Powder is mixed in concrete and cement to enhance the quality and strength of the construction project.
What is Sodium Gluconate?
Sodium gluconate is a crystalline, granular white solid that is soluble in water. It is renewable, biodegradable, non-toxic, and non-corrosive material. Moreover, it is also resistant to reduction and oxidation during high temperatures. The superior chelating power of sodium gluconate is its significant property, particularly in concentrated alkaline and alkaline solutions. It creates stable chelates using aluminum, copper, iron, calcium, and other metals.
Numerous industries use this multi-functional ingredient, particularly for its chelating property. It has wide industrial and food uses. Let’s have a look at the seven main uses of sodium gluconate:
1. Construction Industry
Sodium gluconate powder is used in the construction industry as a concrete admix. It provides multiple benefits, including reduced dry shrinkage, cracking, and bleeding, enhanced freeze-thawing resistance, improved workability, lowering water, and retarding setting times.
To retard cement’s setting time for more than 16 hours, you can add 0.3% sodium gluconate, depending on the temperature and the ratio of cement and water. Since it also works as a corrosion inhibitor, it protects iron bars in concrete from corrosion.
2. Food Industry
It acts as a thickener, sequestrant, and stabilizer in the food industry. Here are the many uses of food-grade sodium gluconate:
- PH buffer in beverages
- Taste improver in drinks to mask off-notes or to reduce the aftertaste/bitterness of caffeine, minerals, soybean protein, or artificial sweeteners
- Stabilizer for meat products to increase the water-binding capacity of meat and to enhance its sliceability and firmness.
- As a replacement of phosphates
It has received approval for use in preserved fish, processed meats, cereals, spices and herbs, vegetables, processed fruits, dairy products, and more.
3. Nutraceutical & Pharma
It helps keep a balance of alkali and acid in the human body and aids in the recovery of normal nerve operation. The medical and pharma industry use it as a pH adjuster and buffer in numerous products, including:
- Hard capsules
- Orally/swallowable dispersible tablets
- Suspension
- Syrups
It is also useful in curing and preventing low sodium syndrome.
4. Personal Care & Cosmetics Products
Sodium gluconate acts as a chelating agent to create complexes with metal ions that impact the appearance and stability of cosmetic products. It also works effectively as a skin conditioner in cosmetics and skincare products.
Gluconate is also a common ingredient in shampoos and cleansers to enhance the lather of the products. You will often find it listed in skincare products, like soap and face creams.
It is also added in dental and oral care products, like toothpaste, to sequester the calcium and prevent gingivitis.
5. Industrial Uses
It is widely used as a chelating agent with its sequestering power. It readily mixes with trivalent and di-trivalent metal icons, like aluminum, copper and more to remove them from water or any solution at alkaline pH, without affecting the temperature. This property makes it a popular ingredient in metal surface treatment, bottle washing, and water treatment.
Sodium Gluconate is also used in metal finishing and electroplating due to its robust metal ions affinity. It acts as a sequestrant to stabilize the solution that prevents impurities from producing undesirable reactions.
Its chelation property helps in the deterioration of anode that helps in increasing the efficiency of the plating bath. It may also be utilized in cadmium, zinc, and copper plating baths to increase luster and brighten the overall look.
Sodium Gluconate is also a common material in agrochemical products, like fertilizers. It assists crops and plants in absorbing required minerals from the soil. It is one of the primary materials in pulp and paper industries to chelate metallic ions that create issues in the hydrosulphite and peroxide processes.
Other uses include dyes and paints, inks, polymers and plastics, textile auxiliaries, and photo chemicals.
6. Cleaning Industry
Due to its multi-functionality, sodium gluconate is a common ingredient in various industrial and household cleaners. It acts as a redeposition agent, builder, sequestering agent, and of course, a chelating agent. In alkaline cleaners, like degreasers and detergents, it stops hard water ions from interfering with alkalies. It also lets the cleaner work to its maximum capability.
It also works as a soil remover in detergents by breaking the calcium bond keeping the dirt in the fabric. It even prevents the soil redeposition in the material again.
Moreover, sodium gluconate protects metals, including stainless steel, from caustic based cleaners. It breaks down beer stone, milk stone, and scale, which is why it is added in numerous acid-based cleaners.
7. Corrosion Inhibitor
Since sodium gluconate produces a remarkable inhibition effect, it also works as a water quality stabilizer. It helps in circulating cooling water system, treatment of engine cooling water system, and low-pressure boiler.
If present in water above 200 ppm, sodium gluconate saves copper and steel from corrosion. Water tanks and pipes made from copper and steel are vulnerable to corrosion, as well as pitting due to dissolved in circulating water. As a result, the equipment experiences degradation and cavitation. Sodium gluconate creates a reaction with the metal that produces a protective layer of gluconate salt. This layer eliminates the chance of contact between metal and dissolved oxygen.
Additionally, sodium gluconate is also mixed with compounds like calcium chloride and salt that are corrosive. It assists in protecting metal surfaces from getting attacked by salts, without reducing the ability of salt to dissolve snow and ice.
Sodium gluconate is a highly useful material in a range of industries. It works as a natural preservative, stops the growth of the microbes in products to keep them safe, and acts as a chelator to enhance the quality of the products. It is crucial to invest in good quality sodium gluconate powder to achieve the best results.
