Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate questions

[kyphysics]

TL;DR Summary

Aka, “Timbor” used as fungicide and insecticide in everyday life

*non-science person here*

Google tells me it’s made of borax and boric acid. Does this mean it is an acid overall. And, if so, would it dissolve fabric it comes into contact with?

I’m confused by DOT’s properties. Google says it’s made of boric acid and borax combined.

I know borax is an OTC cleaner that many use in the home (even in laundry/washers).

Boric acid I’m less familiar with, but from basic research can see it is often considered more toxic than borax yet still used in everyday products, such as insecticides.

Questions: is DOT overall an acid or not? Is its an acid, would it dissolve fabrics?

Also, is borax a form of what is called a borate salt? That third term makes this all the more confusing!

 

[Borek]

Boric acid is an acid - yes. But a very weak one, so while technically it does behave as an acid it is barely capable of acidifying its solutions, so dissolving any fabric is rather impossible.

And yes, borax is a salt. Chemistry of boric acid/borates is a rather complicated one, as it has tendency to polymerize, producing series of similar acids that are in equilibrium, some of them are stable enough to produce their own salts, some acids/salts are observed only in solutions, some are stable and easy to separate in solid form. They are all toxic in a similar way, so exact formulations of fungicides/insecticides will be often based on mixtures chosen so that they are particularly effective and/or easier to use.

 

[kyphysics]

Thank you Borek.

Now just to be clear if boric acid is an acid (even if weak), is DOT which combines boric acid and borax (not an acid) overall an acid?

 

[Borek]

Depends on how you define an acid. If in a strict way, as something capable of donating H⁺, then yes, definitely. But I doubt the solution pH will be below 7, borates (salts) are basic enough to make the whole thing in solution basic (or at least that's what intuition tells me without crunching numbers).

 

[kyphysics]

Interesting. Thank you for explanation.

Out of curiosity, how would acidity in something like vinegar or citrus fruit compare to DOT/boric acid/borax?

 

[Borek]

Acidic drinks like fruit juices have in general pH in the 3-4 range, typical kitchen vinegar is 2+. Solution of boric acid should be in the 4+ range, but when combined with borax it would be more in the 10+ range (or even higher).

 

[kyphysics]

Acidic drinks like fruit juices have in general pH in the 3-4 range, typical kitchen vinegar is 2+. Solution of boric acid should be in the 4+ range, but when combined with borax it would be more in the 10+ range (or even higher).

Thanks. Interesting how basic DOT is.