Sodium Bicarbonate → Carbon Dioxide

Participants

Reaction Steps

In this example, the fire prevention effectiveness of filling the voids in the battery with microencapsulated sodium bicarbonate was evaluated. Sodium bicarbonate extinguishes fires by decomposing to form sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide. The speed of the reaction increases as the temperature of the sodium bicarbonate increases. Sodium bicarbonate is an oxidizer and will corrode metal in the battery. The sodium bicarbonate was encapsulated in a polymer shell to prevent this from happening. The shell prevents corrosive reactions, but still allows the sodium bicarbonate to thermally degrade and extinguish a fire. The material flowed freely and included particles having an average size of 100 microns.

Provenance & Evidence