Product:  Sodium polyphosphate

Synonyms: SODIUM POLYPHOSPHATE;Sodium hexametaphosphate;Sodium Hexa meta phophate;Polyphosphate sodium salt;

Sodillm hexametaplhospllate;Sodiumpolyphosphate,amorphous;SodiumHexametaphosphate Glassy;Phosphate glass, water soluble;Polyphosphorsuren, Natriumsalze;SODIUM POLYPHOSPHATE EXTRA PURE

CAS NO. 68915-31-1

Chemical formula: (NaPO3)6

Molecular weight: 611.77

Properties:
1. Appearance: white powder;
2. Relative density: 2.484 (20 degree centigrade);
3. Solubility: easily soluble in water, but not in organic solution;
4. Absorbent to dampness, and turn sticky when absorbed dampness in air;
5. Can form soluble chelate with metallic ions such as Ca, Ba, Mg, Cu and Fe

[Performance characteristics]
As a sort of sodium henamephophate polymers, it is transparent glass disk or white powder crystal. It has a very strong capability of moisture absorption and becomes viscous after moisture absorption. It is easy to be moist in the air. It is water-soluble with a large solubility in the water but a low dissolution speed. Its water solution assumes the acid reaction. It is easy to be hydrolyzed into phosphite. With the capability to create soluble complexes for some metal ions (Calcium, Magnesium), it can be applied to soften the water. It can also create complexes with lead, argentum and barium salts.

Speification: 

Application:

technical grade usually used in such industries as oil field, paper-making, textile, dyeing, petrochemical industry, tanning industry, metallurgical industry and building material industry, and used as a water softening agent in solution for printing, dyeing, and boiler, as diffusant in papermaking; retarding agent, floating agent, dispersing medium, high temperature agglomerant, detergent and soil analytical chemical reagent;

Food grade usually used in Artificial maple syrup, canned milk, cheese powders and dips, imitation cheese, whipped topping, packaged egg whites, roast beef, fish fillets, fruit jelly, frozen desserts, salad dressing, herring, breakfast cereal, ice cream, beer, and bottled beverages, among other foods, can contain sodium hexametaphosphate. 

Other Information:

HOW IS SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE USED AS A DISPERSING AND DEFLOCCULATING AGENT?

What is sodium hexametaphosphate? And just what is a dispersing agent?

To start, sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) is a hexamer of composition (NaPO3)6. Sodium hexametaphosphate of commerce is typically a mixture of polymeric metaphosphates, of which the hexamer is one, and is usually the compound referred to by this name. It is more correctly termed sodium polymetaphosphate. It is prepared by melting monosodium orthophosphate, followed by rapid cooling.

Sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) is used as a sequestrant and has applications in a wide variety of industries, including as a food additive in which it is used under the E number E452i. Sodium carbonate is sometimes added to SHMP to raise the pH to 8.0-8.6, which produces a number of SHMP products used for water softening and detergents. Also used as a dispersing agent to break down clay and other soil types.

What is a dispersing agent, or deffloculating agent? A dispersing agent prevents flocculation, or the combining of suspended matter into aggregates large enough for gravity to accelerate their settling out.

Divalent and trivalent cations such as sodium hexametaphosphate are used in water solutions to facilitate flocculation of insoluble particles in suspension, especially colloidal size particles like clay and organic matter that have negative surface charges. Addition of divalent or trivalent cations is frequently used in water treatment to remove a combination of inorganic and organic matter as well as living microscopic organisms through flocculation followed by filtration.

Dispersing agents such as sodium hexametaphosphate are more commonly used in laboratory procedures to sustain suspensions and estimate particle size distribution. They are commonly used as a component of detergents, for keeping pigments dispersed in paints and in photography where they find special applications to prevent spotting of films and photographs. While you can't see it SHMP is hiding just beyond the shadows of your drinking water and likely in the paint you have used in your house.