Sodium sesquicarbonate
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Sodium sesquicarbonate (Systematic name trisodium hydrogendicarbonate) Na3H(CO3)2, which is a double salt of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate, and has a needle-like crystal structure. However, the term is also applied to an equimolar mixture of those two salts, with whatever water of hydration the sodium carbonate includes, supplied as a powder.
[edit] Uses
Sodium sesquicarbonate is used in the desalination of copper objects to avoid the loss of surface colour, however, it's a slow process.
It is also used as a precipitating water softener, which combine with hardness minerals (calcium and magnesium based) to form an insoluble precipitate, removing these from the water. [1] It is the carbonate moiety which forms the precipitate, the bicarbonate being included to moderate the material's alkalinity.
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