Synthesis of Zinc Borate: Effects of Different Modifying Agents and Isopropyl Alcohol on Yield and Hydrophobicity by Using Zinc Carbonate Nurcan Tugrul 1+ and Nil Baran Acarali 1 1 Yildiz Technical University, Department of Chemical Engineering, 34210, Davutpasa, Istanbul, Turkey Abstract. In this study, the aim of this study was to synthesize zinc borate by using different modifying agents and isopropyl alcohol in the presence of zinc carbonate, reference boric acid and seed. The experiments were carried out by dissolving of boric acid in a glass beaker in distilled water. Temperature is controlled using a digital temperature sensor and magnetic stirrer provides constantly stirring during the reaction. The effects of modifying agents and isopropyl alcohol on hydrophobicity were investigated. As a result, the analysis results showed that the usage of modifying agents with isopropyl alcohol affected the hydrophobicity of zinc borate and zinc borate which was successfully synthesized has been observed with X- ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis that was carried out after experiments. Keywords: zinc carbonate, hydrophobicity, modifying agent, zinc borate 1. Introduction Zinc borates have been used as flame retardant, smoke suppressant, afterglow suppressant, and anti tracking agent in both halogen-containing and halogen-free polymers. Studies of the preparation of zinc borate with nanostructures and the hydrophobic properties have been relatively few. Surface modification of zinc borate with hydrophobic properties lead to a great expansion of its applications. Zinc borate particles are hardly dispersed in a polymer matrix. Therefore, hydrophobic zinc borate is used in different applications. Therefore, the studies about hydrophobic zinc borate production become very important subject due to its large applications [1-6]. In this study, zinc borate was synthesized under optimised conditions, and the effects of various modifying agents on the yield were investigated. Seed crystals were added to the reaction medium to reduce reaction time and to improve the quality of the product. The products were characterised by analytical techniques such as FT-IR, XRD which indicated that the synthesis of zinc borate was successful and changing modifying agents and usage of different amounts of isopropyl alcohol affected the yield and hydrophobicity of zinc borate. 2. Experimental The synthesis of zinc borate was carried out by the reaction of zinc carbonate and boric acid by using Propylene Glycol (PG), Kerosene, Oleic Acid (OA) in Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). Reference zinc borate was used as a seed crystal to reduce reaction time and to improve the quality of the product. The experiments were carried out by dissolving of boric acid in a glass beaker in distilled water. Temperature is controlled using a digital temperature sensor and magnetic stirrer provides constantly stirring during the reaction. Dry, fine powdered zinc borate particles were produced. The XRD, FT-IR analysis showed that zinc borate was + Corresponding author. Tel.: + (90 212 3834756); fax: + (90 212 3834725) E-mail address: ntugrul@yildiz.edu.tr 55 2011 International Conference on Chemistry and Chemical Process IPCBEE vol.10 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore