US EPA

737572 

Book/Book Chapter 

Chromium compounds 

Anger, G; Halstenberg, J; Hochgeschwender, K; Scherhag, C; Korallus, U; Knopf, H; Schmidt, P; Ohlinger, M 

2005 

Yes 

Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. 

Hoboken, NJ 

Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 

1-36 

English 

10.1002/14356007.a07 067 

is a chapter of 5016693 Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry, 7th edition

Chrome iron ore (chromite) was discovered in 1798. A few decades later this ore was being subjected to oxidative roasting in the presence of soda and lime in manually operated furnaces to produce water-soluble sodium dichromate. This was processed further to yield yellow, red, and green chromium pigments which were used, among other things, for dyeing wallpaper; they replaced the toxic arsenic dyes that had been used until then. Chromium salts soon found their way into the textile industry as mordants for the dyeing of wool.

The importance of dichromates increased considerably in the period following 1870 when the rising coal tar dye industry needed large quantities for the oxidation of chemical intermediates. With the advent of the 20th century, chrome tanning was introduced in leather factories and in many areas replaced vegetable tanning.

The manufacture of chromium compounds received a further boost after 1930, when metallic chromium was successfully precipitated from chromic acid solutions by special additives. Since then this possibility has been used extensively in electroplating for bright and hard chromium plating.

Chromium compounds are used in numerous fields. In addition to the applications mentioned, chromates have long been used in printing as an aid in photomechanical reproduction. For some time, chromium dioxide has been a component of magnetic tapes for information storage. Table 1 lists important applications of chromium chemicals. 

7th 

Elvers, B 

9783527329434