The history of sodium silicate

The first industrial applications of sodium silicate began in the second half of the 1800s both in Europe and in the United States of America, based on studies carried out systematically since 1818 by Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs, professor of mineralogy in Munich.

Alkaline soluble silicates, currently one of the largest production volume of chemical compounds in Western Europe, were in fact already known since ancient times. Some sources report that they could already have been produced by the ancient Egyptians over 5000 years ago through the fusion of silica sand and natural soda ash. Famous is also an anecdote reported in the "Historia Naturalis" of Pliny the Elder in which it is told about the accidental production of a soluble glass by some Phoenician sailors; they arrived on a sandy shore and used a block of sodium carbonate as a support to cook their meal. The heat of the fire caused the reaction between the sodium carbonate and the siliceous sand and the consequent formation of the glass.

Soluble silicates were also identified and exploited by some alchemists of the 17th century, as described in the works of Glauber and Agricola, but it is only with the studies and industrial production of the 19th century that this category of compounds found development in the various and numerous applications that still involve practically every object of our daily life.The first industrial applications of sodium silicate began in the second half of the 1800s both in Europe and in the United States of America, based on studies carried out systematically since 1818 by Johann Nepomuk von Fuchs, professor of mineralogy in Munich.

Alkaline soluble silicates, currently one of the largest production volume chemical compounds in Western Europe, were in fact already known since ancient times. Some sources report that they could already have been produced by the ancient Egyptians over 5000 years ago through the fusion of silica sand and natural soda ash. Famous is also an anecdote reported in the "Historia Naturalis" of Pliny the Elder in which it is told about the accidental production of a soluble glass by some Phoenician sailors; they arrived on a sandy shore and used a block of sodium carbonate as a support to cook their meal. The heat of the fire caused the reaction between the sodium carbonate and the siliceous sand and the consequent glass formation.

Soluble silicates were also identified and exploited by some alchemists of the 17th century, as described in the works of Glauber and Agricola, but it is only with the studies and industrial production of the 19th century that this category of compounds found development in the various and numerous applications that still involve practically every object of our daily life.