Page 116 - Encyclopedia of Chemical Compounds 3 Vols

AMMONIUM CHLORIDE

Interesting Facts

• Sal ammoniac was an from culture to culture. For
important substance in the example, one Islamic alche-
study of alchemy. The goals mist, Abu Bakr Mohammed
and methods of alchemy ar-Razi (865–925) classified
changed considerably over sal ammoniac as one of the
the period from about the fundamental spirits of
twelfth century to about matter, along with mercury,
the sixteenth century and sulfur, and arsenic.
were somewhat different

sodium carbonate, a very important commercial product.
Ammonium chloride is also formed during the reactions
and is removed as a by-product.

COMMON USES AND POTENTIAL HAZARDS
Ammonium chloride has a wide variety of commercial
uses. One of the best known uses is in dry cell batteries. Dry
cell batteries consist of three parts: the anode (the metal
bottom of the battery), the cathode (the metal knob at the
top of the battery), and the electrolyte (a moist solid material
that makes up the body of the battery). Electrons produced in
a chemical reaction within the battery flow out of the cath-
ode, through an external circuit (the device to which the
battery is attached), back into the battery through the anode,
and back to the cathode through the electrolyte. The electro-
lyte in a dry cell battery consists of a pasty mixture of
ammonium chloride with water.
Some other uses of ammonium chloride include:

• As a mordant in dyeing and printing operations;
• As a flux for soldering;
• For the production of other ammonium compounds,
especially those used as fertilizers;

• In the manufacture of certain types of polymers, espe-
cially the family known as the urea-formaldehyde resins;

CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS 65