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Hydrogen peroxide decomposition reaction
I was wondering what is hydrogen
peroxide decomposition reaction? why is it resulting an acidic solution
(decreasing the pH from the initial pH) as they decompose over time. -
3 Replies
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2 H2O2 —UV/heat/time-> 2 H2O + O2
Hydrogen peroxide is a weak acid, that’s why the solution becomes acidic. This is more of a general chemistry question though that you could easily learn more about by googling
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EVchem said:…Hydrogen peroxide is a weak acid, that’s why the solution becomes acidic…Reason has it that this would mean it becomes alkaline since the acid (H2O2) decomposes
.I don’t have a definite answer but a guess: It might be stabilisers which causes the effect. H2O2 is often stabilised with a small amount phosphoric acid. Once O2 has gassed out, volume goes down and, because it’s lacking a buffer, even that small a change leads to a noticeable drop in pH.
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@Pharma that totally makes sense. thank you so much for the answer 🙂
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