Hey everyone, let’s cut to the chase—if you’re someone who works with food additives, pharma excipients, lab reagents, or even cleaning products, you’ve probably crossed paths with ammonium citrate dibasic, right? I’m gonna break down its physical properties like I’m chatting with a fellow supplier buddy, no stuffy textbook jargon, just the real, usable deets that matter when you’re sourcing or working with this stuff. Ammonium Citrate Dibasic
First off, what is ammonium citrate dibasic anyway? For the uninitiated, it’s a salt formed from citric acid and ammonia, with that “dibasic” part meaning it has two replaceable hydrogen ions left from citric acid’s original three. Now, the physical traits are the stuff you can see, touch, test in a bucket, or in a lab beaker—this isn’t about its chemical reactivity (we’ll save that for another post), it’s the tangible stuff that makes it easy to handle, store, and use in your operations.
Let’s start with the most basic: how it looks. If you’ve ever opened a bag of ammonium citrate dibasic (ACD, let’s call it that from here on to save time), you won’t see those weird, giant salt crystals like rock salt. No, it’s fine, mostly a white or off-white powder. Wait, I said “mostly” because we’ve had a few batches that leaned a tiny bit yellow, but that’s super rare—only if something went wonky in the manufacturing drying step, and we toss those immediately, trust me. It’s not super fine like baby powder, but it’s fine enough to pour easily, no clumps (unless it’s gotten damp, which we’ll talk about in storage next).
Next up, solubility—this is a big one, especially for our food and pharma clients who need it to dissolve cleanly, no residue. ACD is hella soluble in water. Like, I’m talking you can mix 100 grams of it into just 100 mL of room temp water, and it’ll dissolve completely in like, a minute if you stir a little. That’s a high solubility level—way higher than table salt, for reference. The kicker? It’s barely soluble in alcohol. We’re talking only like 0.5 grams dissolves in 100 mL of ethanol, so if you’re working with alcohol-based formulas, it’s not gonna muck up that part, which is a huge win for lab folks or beverage manufacturers who need it to stay in an aqueous system.
Then there’s its density, which matters for shipping and storage—you don’t want to order a pallet and be surprised by how much space it takes, or how much a drum weighs. Its bulk density (that’s the loose, poured powder weight per volume) is roughly 0.6 to 0.8 g/cm³. So a standard 25 kg bag? It’s about half a cubic foot, if you’re used to imperial measurements. The true density (the actual mass of the solid, no gaps between particles) is higher, around 1.5 g/cm³, but bulk is what you care about for moving and storing. And that low bulk density means it’s light, so shipping costs don’t get crazy—we pass that savings on to clients, by the way, just sayin’.
Now, melting point? Wait, important—ACD doesn’t have a true melting point at standard pressure. It decomposes before it melts, around 185°C (365°F). That means if you heat it up that hot, it starts breaking down, giving off ammonia gas (that’s the pungent smell you might notice if you leave a bag open in a hot warehouse) and forming other compounds like citraconic acid. So if you’re using it in a process that heats stuff up, you can’t crank it past that temp without changing its composition. Good to know if you’re making something that involves high-heat steps, like baked goods or certain industrial coatings.
pH is another physical property, not chemical reactivity—pH is just a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is, right? When you dissolve ACD in water, a 1% solution has a pH of around 7 to 8. That’s slightly basic, neutral enough that it doesn’t mess with most formulas unless you’re super picky about pH levels. We test every batch for this, by the way, because if the pH is off, it’s either too acidic or too basic, and it’s useless for a lot of uses (like food where pH needs to be tight for preservation).
What about its ability to absorb moisture (hygroscopicity)? This is a make-or-break for storage. ACD is mildly hygroscopic—so it will pick up a little moisture from the air, but not as bad as something like magnesium chloride. We store our bulk product in climate-controlled warehouses at around 40-50% humidity, and it stays free-flowing for months. If you leave a bag open in a damp garage, yeah, it’ll clump up, but that’s user error, not bad product. We always tell clients to seal bags tight after opening, and if they need to store it long-term, use airtight drums, not just plastic bags.
Let’s talk about texture and feel, just because it’s relatable. When you rub a little ACD powder between your fingers, it’s soft, not gritty at all. No sharp edges, so it’s not going to scratch mixing tanks or clog small filters—something our pharma clients love because they use it in injectable formulations, where even tiny particles can be a problem. We’ve had a client in the lab supply space say our ACD’s particle size is super consistent, so they don’t have to filter it twice. That’s because we control the grinding and screening steps, so 95% of our particles are between 100 and 200 mesh—no tiny dust particles that get airborne, no big chunks that don’t dissolve.
Wait, should I mention things that don’t happen? Like, it’s odorless when it’s dry. Only when it gets damp or heated does that ammonia smell come through, which is a good way to tell if it’s going bad before it affects your product. And it’s not flammable—we never have to worry about it catching fire or exploding in a warehouse, which is a huge safety win for our manufacturing clients who store lots of chemicals.
Let me tie this all together because I know a lot of you read this looking for practical stuff, not just a list of facts. All these physical properties add up to why ACD is so versatile: high water solubility means it mixes perfectly into beverages or cleaning solutions; mild pH means it won’t alter the taste or acidity of food; low hygroscopicity means it doesn’t clump during shipping or storage, so you don’t get unusable powder when you open a bag; non-flammable and low bulk density mean it’s safe and cheap to transport. And for lab folks, the consistent particle size and purity (wait, we didn’t talk about purity, but that’s tied to physical traits—our product is 99%+ pure, so no weird residues) make it perfect for titrations or buffer solutions.
If you’re still with me, you’re probably someone who actually uses ACD and knows how frustrating it is when a supplier sends product that doesn’t meet your needs. Like, ordering a powder that’s too gritty and clogs your system, or one that dissolves half-way because it’s low quality. That’s why as a supplier, we test every single batch for all these physical properties before it leaves our facility. We don’t just check purity—we test solubility, pH, particle size, moisture content, all the stuff that matters to you. We even send a small sample with every bulk order so you can test it in your own lab before you do a full run.
If you’re looking to stock up, or if you have questions about how these properties work for your specific use case (like, if you’re making a natural cleaning product and need it to dissolve in water without leaving residue, or if you’re a food manufacturer needing it as an emulsifier), hit us up. We’re here to talk through your needs, not just sell you a bag of powder.
Ferrous Oxalate References:
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 97th Edition.
- Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), 11th Edition.
- Merck Index, 15th Edition.
Jiangsu Kolod Food Ingredients Co., Ltd.
As one of the most professional ammonium citrate dibasic manufacturers and suppliers in China, we’re featured by quality products and good price. Please rest assured to wholesale bulk ammonium citrate dibasic made in China here and get free sample from our factory. Customized orders are welcome.
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