First discovered in 1811 by Sir Humphrey Davy, chlorine dioxide is a selective (a feature of targeted oxidation) oxidant with low oxidation power. Therefore it’s allowed to be present at specific concentrations in drinking water. In addition, due to its strong oxidation capacity (gaining 5 elections) and rich in available chlorine, it is a high efficacy oxidant. Because of these unique properties, chlorine dioxide becomes a great general purpose disinfection choice against pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae.

The chlorine dioxide molecule contains an unpaired electron and two reaction centers (chlorine and oxygen), resulting in properties different from those of other oxidants.

It is a disinfectant of high efficacy and safety with broad applications.

Chlorine dioxide is a synthetic, green-yellowish gas with a chlorine-like, irritating odor at room temperature. It is an unstable gas, not existing in nature, that dissociates into chlorine gas (Cl2), oxygen gas (O2) and heat. It can be photo-oxidized by sunlight. Chlorine dioxide turns into gas at 11°C (boiling point).

One of the most important properties of chlorine dioxide is its high water solubility, especially in cold water. It is approximately 10 times more soluble in water than chlorine. Chlorine dioxide does not hydrolyze when it enters water. It remains a dissolved gas in solution and retains its oxidative and biocidal properties.

Chlorine dioxide gas cannot be stored for too long because it slowly dissociates into chlorine and oxygen. It is rarely transported because of its explosiveness and instability and usually manufactured on site.

In a water solution, chlorine dioxide is very stable if the solution is protected from light and heat.

Chlorine dioxide has many applications:

• In the electronics industry to clean circuit boards
• In the oil industry to treat sulfides
• In the pulp and paper industry to bleach paper
• In the medical industry to sterilize medical equipment, air, surfaces, rooms and tools
• In the water industry to remove the taste, odor, color, phenol, iron and manganese.

As a disinfectant and biocide, it is mainly used in liquid form (water solution).

As an oxidant, chlorine dioxide is targeted where it is needed the most, i.e. “selective”. It quickly attacks the electron-rich centers of organic molecules such as organic sulphides compounds, secondary (R2NH) and tertiary (R3N) amines, phenol, and some other reactive organic substances such as Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It does not break carbon connections, aromatic cores, carboxylic structures, primary (RNH2) amines, urea and other substances.

Due to its high selectivity, less chlorine dioxide is required to disinfect pathogens. In comparison to chlorine and ozone, it's an active residual disinfectant.

Selectivity of ClO2 between humans and bacteria is based not on their different biochemistry, but on their different sizes.

Oxidation strength describes how strongly an oxidant reacts with an oxidizable substance. Ozone has the highest oxidation strength and reacts with every substance that can be oxidized. On the contrary, Chlorine dioxide is significantly weaker on oxidation strength.

Weak oxidation strength and high selectivity make chlorine dioxide a safe oxidant.

The oxidation capacity refers to how many electrons are transferred in an oxidation reaction. The chlorine atom in chlorine dioxide has an oxidation number of +4. After receiving 5 electrons, it is reduced to a stable chloride ion (Cl-).

Chlorine dioxide contains, mole for mole, 276% more available chlorine than sodium chlorite and 263 % more than chlorine, which makes it 2.5 times more oxidation capacity than chlorine.

A high oxidation capacity and rich in available chlorine make CLO2 have a high oxidative load against pathogens.

For chlorine dioxide, like ozone, the predominant oxidation reaction mechanism is a process known as free radical electrophilic (i.e. electron-attracting) abstraction. Chlorinating agents like chlorine or hypochlorite, in contrast, undergo oxidative substitution or addition reactions. This means that chlorinated organic compounds such as THMs and HAAs are not formed during oxidation with chlorine dioxide.

Unlike the ozonization of organic substances by ozone, chlorine dioxide does not produce significant amounts of organic substances such as aldehydes, ketones, ketone acids or other byproducts.

These are the reasons why chlorine dioxide has many industrial, municipal and residential applications such as sewage water disinfection, cooling tower water disinfection, industrial air treatment, food production and treatment, and sterilization of medical equipment.

The reaction process of chlorine dioxide with bacteria, viruses and other substances, takes place in two steps.

First, chlorine dioxide takes up an electron and reduces to chlorite ion:

        ClO2 + e- = ClO2-

Secondly, the chlorite ion is oxidized and becomes a very stable chloride ion:

        ClO2- + 4H+ + 4e- = Cl- + 2H2O

The final end-product of chlorine dioxide oxidation reactions is chloride (Cl-).

The reaction of chlorine dioxide with vital amino acids is one of the dominant processes in destroying bacteria and viruses. The oxidizable material within the cells and on the surface of cell membranes reacts with chlorine dioxide, causing disruption to cell metabolism. It also reacts directly with the amino acids and the RNA in the cell, which prevents the production of proteins.

The small pathogens are killed extremely fast, with the killing time for a bacterium is on the order of milliseconds in a 300 ppm ClO2 solution. A few minutes of contact time is quite enough to kill all bacteria with minimized cytotoxic effects to the living tissues.

• Chlorine dioxide disrupts the cell metabolism of the bacteria to destroy them, i.e. changing the cell membrane proteins and fat and penetrating the cell wall.
• Chlorine dioxide eliminates the viruses by reacting with peptone and preventing protein formation.

Since the electrophilic abstraction oxidation reaction without oxidative substitution or addition is independent of the reaction time or concentration, the required concentration of chlorine dioxide needed to effectively kill microorganisms is lower than those of non-oxidizing disinfectants.

Unlike non-oxidizing disinfectants, chlorine dioxide kills microorganisms even when they are inactive. Most microorganisms are unable to build up resistance to it because they are destroyed via the oxidative load placed on their cells by chlorine dioxide.

• Pathogens cannot build up resistance against chlorine dioxide.

Chlorine dioxide in an aqueous solution can penetrate the slime layers of bacteria. It oxidizes the polysaccharide matrix that keeps the bio film together and breaks the bio film, which allows it to act on the bacteria themselves. During this reaction, chlorine dioxide is reduced to chlorite ions (ClO2-). When the bio film starts to grow again, an acid environment is formed and the chlorite ions are transformed into chlorine dioxide, which removes the remaining bio film.

It is effective against spore-forming bacteria so it can be used against anthrax.

• Chlorine dioxide eliminates bio film, kills the bacteria associated with the bio film and prevents bio film formation like no other biocides.

Chlorine dioxide is effective against Giardia Lambia and Cryptosporidium parasites, which are found in drinking water and induce diseases like 'giardiasis' and 'cryptosporidiosis'.

Chlorine dioxide even kills a variety of parasites.

For the pre-oxidation and reduction of organic substances, between 0.5 and 2 ppm of chlorine dioxide is required at a contact time between 15 and 30 minutes. Water quality determines the required contact time.

For post-disinfection, concentrations between 0.2 and 0.4 ppm are applied. The residual byproduct concentration of chlorite is very low and there are no risks for human health.

The maximum chlorine dioxide concentration in the drinking water is 0.8ppm by EPA.

The more powerful the oxidant, the more harmful for living organisms. Chlorine dioxide is above oxygen but far below ozone in terms of its oxidation power. A fixed low concentration will therefore not result in any problems for fish or other living organisms. The combination of low oxidation strength, high oxidation capacity, and no harmful byproducts makes chlorine dioxide safe and easy to use in aquaculture.

Consistently applying low concentration chlorine dioxide will result in:

• less bacterial problems
• less water odor
• less biofilm and algae formed on walls and pipes
• better water quality
• more healthy fish

The maintenance dosage is suggested to be 0.01-0.04 ppm once a week.

You can dose 10ml - 30ml of 12,000 ppm (i.e. 0.012 – 0.036 ppm) or 40ml - 120 ml of 3,000 ppm stock solution per 10,000 liter or 2,600 Gal of water.

First-time-use dosage is suggested to be 0.1 - 0.15 ppm once every other day for 5 times in succession due to high level of bacteria and dissolved organic matters (DOM) in water. Afterwards, switch to maintenance dosage.

You can dose 100ml of 12,000 ppm (i.e. 0.12 ppm) or 400ml of 3,000 ppm stock solution per 10,000 liter or 2,600 Gal water.

Using chlorine dioxide to purify the fish pond water will maintain high water quality and active and healthy fish.

Chlorine dioxide is a great choice of disinfectant for swimming pools. It kills pathogens including bacteria, viruses and fungi in the water and stops algae from growing on the walls. It protects women from gynecologic diseases caused by different types of bacterial infections. For babies or people with sensitive skin, there will be much less irritation compared to chlorine, especially in a public swimming pool. Pink eye, or conjuctivitis, which is a viral or bacterial infection in the eye that is highly contagious, can be combatted by using chlorine dioxide. As a water purifier, it can also protect swimmers from being exposed to toxic nitrogenous (chloramines) or carcinogenic organic residuals (trihalomethanes) and HAAs.

The maintenance dosage of chlorine dioxide is suggested at: 0.1 - 0.2 ppm once a week.

You can dose 100ml of 12,000 ppm (i.e. 0.12 ppm) or 400ml of 3,000 ppm stock solution per 10,000 liter or 2,600 Gal water.

Using chlorine dioxide in swimming pool disinfection generates no harmful byproducts and protect swimmers from many diseases.

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