What is Zinc Oxide?
Zinc oxide is an inorganic chemical compound that is used as the main ingredient in preparing drugs or other medicines. It can be used as pigment or semiconductors in industries. The chemical formula for the compound could be written as ZnO with a molecular mass of approx. 81.379 g mol-1.
Zinc Oxide structure
This chemical compound is formed mixing zinc and oxygen atoms together. The chemical structure for the compound could be given as below.
Zinc Oxide Chemical Formula
Its presence could be felt in nature and taken as the largest mineral in New Jersey USA. The compound has a hexagonal crystalline structure and there is just plenty of process to synthesize the zinc oxide. It can be prepared by either the French or American process with a slight difference only but the final output in both cases is the same. One more technique for preparing Zinc Oxide includes the wet process that is made up of pure zinc sulfate and chloride through precipitation of the carbonate. Further, precipitation is calcined for obtaining the zinc oxide.
Zn + 2 H2O → Zn(OH)2 + H2
Zn(OH)2 → ZnO + H2O
Zinc Oxide Properties
When we are talking about the physical properties then it is grey to white in color and defined as the granular solid with a density of 5.68 g mL-1 and melting point is calculated as 1975 degree Celsius. This chemical compound is not soluble in water but soluble in acid or alkaline solutions. It is highly toxic in nature and it is dangerous for humans due to less concentration. Zinc oxide is not flammable in nature but emits toxic fumes when heated at extreme temperatures.