Carbonation

This article is about carbonation reactions in chemistry. For carbonated beverages, see Carbonated drink and Carbonated water.

Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids.

In inorganic chemistry and geology, carbonation is common. Metal hydroxides (MOH) and metal oxides (M'O) react with CO₂ to give bicarbonates and carbonates:

MOH + CO₂ → M(HCO₃)

M'O + CO₂ → M'CO₃

In reinforced concrete construction, the chemical reaction between carbon dioxide in the air and calcium hydroxide and hydrated calcium silicate in the concrete is known as neutralisation.

Henry's law

Henry's law states that P_CO2=K_Bx_CO2 where P_CO2 is the partial pressure of CO2 gas above the solution. K_B is Henry's law constant. K_B increases as temperature increases. x_CO2 is the mole fraction of CO2 gas in the solution. According to Henry's law carbonation increases in a solution as temperature decreases.

Since carbonation is the process of giving compounds like carbonic acid (liq) from CO₂ (gas) {i.e. making liquid from gasses} thus the partial pressure of CO₂ has to decrease or mole fraction of CO₂ in solution have to increase {P_CO2/x_CO2 = K_B} and both these two conditions supports increase in carbonation.