Zinc carbonate

Reported in EPA TSCA Inventory.

Zinc carbonate is also known as Carbonic acid, zinc salt (1:1) with the formula ZnCO₃. Its EINECS registry number is 222-477-6 and CAS registry number is 3486-35-9. The substance is stable which is incompatible with acids. Zinc carbonate is white crystalline solid or powder that is insoluble in water. It should be stored at cool, well-ventilated and dry place. In addition, it is strictly prohibited and mixed storage shipped with acid or alkali matter.

Properties: Zinc carbonate reacts with acids to generate carbon dioxide and a zinc-containing solution. It can dissolve in bases and in solutions of ammonium salts. Othewides, the substance can react with 30 % hydrogen peroxide to generate carbon dioxide and peroxide. It starts to decompose when the temperature rise by 140 °C. Zinc carbonate is insoluble in water but will transform into basic salt in boling water.

Preparation: When prepare the Zinc carbonate, you can use Zn or ZnO as the raw material which should react with sulfuric acid to generate rude zinc sulfate solution. And then, in order to remove impurities such as Fe, Mn, you should use potassium permanganate to oxidate the substance at PH 5.2, 80 °C. Next, you can add zinc powder into the mixture to remove impurities such as nickel, copper, cadmium at the temperature of 75～90 °C. Then you can gain purified zinc sulfate which will react with sodium carbonate to generate basic zinc carbonate. And then the paste-like mixture is filtered. The filtrate is dried to moisture content below 2.5% at 100 °C. Finally, you will produce Zinc carbonate through fine grinding and sifting.

ZnO + H₂SO₄ → ZnSO₄ + H₂O
3 ZnSO₄ + 3 Na₂CO₃ + 3 H₂O → ZnCO₃·2 Zn(OH)₂·H₂O + 2 CO₂↑+ 3 Na₂SO₄

Uses: Zinc carbonate is used as light astringent and raw material of latex products. It also can be used to confect calamine lotion, produce artificial silk and catalytic desulfurizer. The substance is also used as skin protectant in medicine. In addition, Zinc carbonate can be used as a feed additive for zinc supplementation.

Descriptors computed from structure of Zinc carbonate:
(1)Canonical SMILES: C(=O)([O-])[O-].[Zn+2]
(2)InChI: InChI=1S/CH2O3.Zn/c2-1(3)4;/h(H2,2,3,4);/q;+2/p-2
(3)InChIKey: FMRLDPWIRHBCCC-UHFFFAOYSA-L