H2O2, a colourless liquid usually produced as aqueous solutions of various strengths, used principally for bleaching cotton and other textiles and wood pulp, in the manufacture of other chemicals, as a rocket propellant, and for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Solutions containing more than about 8 percent hydrogen peroxide are corrosive to the skin. First recognized as a chemical compound in 1818, hydrogen peroxide is the simplest member of the class of s. Of the several processes of manufacture, the principal ones involve reactions of oxygen from the air with certain organic compounds, especially anthraquinone or isopropyl alcohol. Major commercial grades...
this decomposition, and, for this reason, pure H2O2 or a concentrated solution is normally stored in wax-coated or plastic bottles. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent in either acidic or basic solutions and will also act as a reducing agent toward very strong oxidizing agents, such as the permanganate ion, MnO4-. The largest industrial use of hydrogen peroxide is as a bleach for such materials as textiles, paper pulp, and leather. It is used in dilute solution as a mild antiseptic and disinfectant and is employed in the production of organic stabilizers, polymerization initiators, curing agents, and pharmaceuticals.