Phosphate Chemicals in Textile Processing

Phosphorus compounds make up a vast quantity of chemicals used by industry and consumers throughout the world. Of the many phosphorus compounds that exist, phosphates (the salts of phosphoric acids) are the ones most freqently used in textile processing. 

The orthophosphates are inorganic salts of orthophosphoric acid which result when one or more of the hydrogen ions of the acid are replaced by other positively charged ions. They are most commonly available in the three sodium forms of the salt monosodium phosphate (in which one sodium ion substitutes for a hydrogen), disodium phosphate, and trisodium phosphate. These are usually abbreviated as MSP, DSP, and TSP, respectively. 

One form of orthophosphate is extremely well known in textile processing. This is trisodium phosphate crystal, or TSP-X. 

Polyphosphates are the second class of phosphate chemicals. They are formed by linking together two or more orthophosphates into a chain or inorganic polymer. 

The first group is that of the pyrophosphates, or diphosphates, consisting of two orthophosphates linked together. 

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