Hydrogen Peroxide - History

History

Louis Jacques Thénard first described hydrogen peroxide in 1818. He produced it by reacting barium peroxide with nitric acid. An improved version of this process used hydrochloric acid, followed by addition of sulfuric acid to precipitate the barium sulfate byproduct. Thénard's process was used from the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century. Modern production methods are discussed below.

Pure hydrogen peroxide was long believed to be unstable. This was because of failed attempts to separate the hydrogen peroxide from the water, which is present during synthesis. However, this instability was due to traces of impurities (transition metals salts) that catalyze the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide. One hundred percent pure hydrogen peroxide was first obtained through vacuum distillation by Richard Wolffenstein in 1894. At the end of the 19th century, Petre Melikishvili and his pupil L. Pizarjevski showed that of the many proposed formulas of hydrogen peroxide, the correct one was H−O−O−H.

The use of H2O2 sterilization in biological safety cabinets and barrier isolators is a popular alternative to ethylene oxide (EtO) as a safer, more efficient decontamination method. H2O2 has long been widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. In aerospace research, H2O2 is used to sterilize artificial satellites and space probes.

The U.S. FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to use H2O2 in individual medical device manufacturing applications. EtO criteria outlined in ANSI/AAMI/ISO 14937 may be used as a validation guideline. Sanyo was the first manufacturer to use the H2O2 process in situ in a cell culture incubator, which is a faster and more efficient cell culture sterilization process.

Read more about this topic:  Hydrogen Peroxide

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    These anyway might think it was important
    That human history should not be shortened.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    I am not a literary man.... I am a man of science, and I am interested in that branch of Anthropology which deals with the history of human speech.
    —J.A.H. (James Augustus Henry)

    You that would judge me do not judge alone
    This book or that, come to this hallowed place
    Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
    Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
    Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
    And say my glory was I had such friends.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)