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  Perms and straighteners

  Posted by lynw on January 14, 2015 at 2:01 am

  I am working on a thio based hair straightener and would like to use Sodium Bromate as the neutralizer/oxidizer mostly because peroxide is a little harsh for the hair type this is aimed at. I have found info that recommends a pH of around 6.5 - 6.8. My question is will sodium bromate act as an effective oxidizing agent at a lower pH (4 or 5) or is it’s functionality dependent on a higher pH? Will the BrO3- become  Bromic acid at a lower pH?

  lynw replied 9 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

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  Bill_Toge

  Member

  January 14, 2015 at 3:08 am

  the pKa (equivalence point) of bromic acid is -2, so you’d have to get the pH a lot lower than 4 or 5 to form any substantial quantity of bromic acid

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  chemicalmatt

  Member

  January 14, 2015 at 5:55 pm

  What Bill said - plus, BrO3- will not go to its highest oxidation state readily, since IT is being reduced.  I suggest concentrating on your concentration carefully with this system.  Any excess bromate can cause drying, shedding and damage to the just-relaxed hair, so keep it to a minimum. Its only a little better than peroxide, not a lot.

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  lynw

  Member

  January 20, 2015 at 3:39 am

  Thank you for the info.

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