Potassium phosphate dibasic, bearing the chemical formula K2HPO4, serves as a key compound across laboratories, agriculture, food processing, and industrial applications. It comes as a white crystal, solid, or powder and sometimes as little pearly grains. The stuff dissolves in water quite fast and brings in both potassium and phosphate ions. Chemists use it for buffer solutions, adjusting pH, or giving a potassium punch in fertilizer mixes. Pharmacists might see it in intravenous fluids, showing just how versatile this salt can be. The structure holds two potassium ions, one hydrogen phosphate group, and bonds that don’t break down under normal handling. Both its appearance and its behavior in solution tell you this is a straightforward, practical chemical, not fussy or fidgety to work with.
K2HPO4 stands out because it has a clear, almost see-through crystal form when pure, but more often you’ll see it as a fine or slightly coarse white powder. Some factories roll it into flakes or press it into pellets for easier handling. The density falls around 2.44 g/cm³, meaning a scoop weighs noticeably more than other salt-like compounds. It melts above 340°C, but in most conditions, it just sits tight and stable. Stir it into water, and you get a well-behaved, nearly neutral solution, not acidic, not especially basic. Solubility in water reaches up to 149 grams per liter at room temperature. Throw it in cold water or lukewarm water and it’ll dissolve all the same, behaving consistently from batch to batch. That’s something lab techs and production operators value: reliability in every bucket or sack.
Each unit of potassium phosphate dibasic contains two potassium ions hanging on to a single hydrogen phosphate group. The formula, K2HPO4, boils down to a total molecular weight of about 174.18 g/mol. Walk through the laboratory or a materials storeroom, and you’ll spot this formula stenciled on barrels and bottles. The crystal lattice has a neat and regular shape, which matters for applications needing a steady, known dissolution rate. The structural simplicity means you rarely find impurities lingering, and any color change or clumping points to a problem with storage, not the compound itself.
Industry asks for potassium phosphate dibasic in varying grades: technical grade for industrial washing, food grade for things like cheese or processed meats, and reagent grade for chemical analysis. Purity levels typically exceed 98 percent, and moisture content stays low, often under 0.5 percent. Most bags and containers display batch numbers, production date, net weight, and the chemical’s official trade name. The HS Code for potassium phosphate dibasic is 28352400, tying it directly to phosphate product shipments worldwide. Tight specifications guard against unwanted chloride, sulfate, and heavy metal traces, so the product entering food or pharmaceutical lines doesn’t trip alarms or cause recalls. Often, you’ll see it sealed against air with double-lined bags or drums lined in plastic, since any dampness causes clumping.
Potassium phosphate dibasic rolls off the line as either a solid chunk or is milled into a fine powder. Flakes appear a lot in bulk shipments, because they pour well and stay loose. Pearls or granules, though less common, allow for easier metering in continuous processes. Liquid solutions—usually at standard concentrations like 1M—pop up mostly in laboratory and medical settings. The solid forms mostly land in industrial or agricultural tanks, while solutions slip into medical packs or research kits. Technicians and operators pick form based on handling and dosing accuracy, not some abstract preference. Crystalline material always gets picked where purity and regular grain size are needed. Each of these forms gets sized by mesh number or particle size so buyers know whether the product will flow through a hopper or stick in a feeder valve.
Bulk density runs from 0.9 to 1.2 g/cm³ depending on whether you’re talking about flakes, powder, or pearls. Prepare a typical solution by weighing out grams of the solid, pouring it into a beaker, and flushing with distilled water—nothing complicated but you can’t substitute by eye; accurate measuring tools make all the difference. A liter of 1M solution needs about 174 grams of the solid stuff. Schools, scientists, and engineers rely on it to buffer solutions, tweak pH, or supplement potassium and phosphate in tests. In agriculture, the stuff gets dumped into tanks with other fertilizers, and the actual liter or kilogram dose depends on plant species and soil type. So the real know-how comes down to trusting your measuring scale and understanding the application, not just reading a label.
Factories produce potassium phosphate dibasic by neutralizing phosphoric acid with potassium carbonate or potassium hydroxide. Steps matter here: manufacturers look for well-controlled reactions, no leftover acid, and minimal water left in the finished product. Supply chains watch for quality phosphate rock, clean processing, and prompt shipment since moisture loves to sneak into bags during long storage. The raw materials—phosphoric acid and potassium salts—define the cost and purity of the end product. If someone wants organic certification in food or specific trace-metal controls, sourcing gets even stricter. Documentation travels with each shipment, showing place of origin, batch analysis, and production records. Price shifts as demand in agriculture or chemicals rises and falls, and every link in the chain from mine to plant to user needs to work in sync.
Potassium phosphate dibasic doesn’t carry dramatic health risks like some chemicals, but it still deserves respect. Contact with eyes or broken skin causes irritation, though mild compared to acids. Breathing fine powder can dry out nasal passages or, if you’re not careful, settle in the lungs. Some folks get minor skin reactions after long exposure, especially when handling powder or solution without gloves. Containers should stay dry, tightly sealed, and labeled clearly—damp conditions not only cause clumping but sometimes trigger slight chemical changes. Accidental spills call for a broom and scoop, not a panic, but vapor or dust shouldn’t drift around, especially where food or sensitive equipment sits. The MSDS names it as hazardous mostly by bulk irritant standards, not acute toxicity, and it’s not considered harmful in trace amounts that might drift from treated soils or food additives. Rinse well if it gets on your hands or eyes—common-sense hygiene lowers any risk close to zero. Large-scale storage needs ventilation in case of dust, always away from acids and moisture, to avoid caking or unexpected reactions.
In everyday use, K2HPO4 doesn’t look special—just a white powder flowing from a bag or measured into a scoop. Yet it powers everything from cleaner cheese in factories to healthy plants in the field and stable buffers in research labs. It’s a backbone ingredient that never makes headlines but quietly shapes the quality and success of countless products and scientific tests. The details—density, formula, particle form, and safety—really matter, not just to meet technical specs, but to keep operations smooth, predictable, and efficient. Without those, any glitch, spill, or mix-up multiplies headaches for workers, researchers, or anyone touching the supply chain. Knowing what goes into every drum or bottle means knowing you can count on your results, from farm to lab bench to pharmacy shelf.
