Acetone

A colourless clear, highly volatile liquid with a pungently sweet odour. has a rapid rate of evaporation, high solvency and a low boiling point. miscible with water, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents and most organic solvents. It has excellent solvency properties for many vegetable and animal fats and oils, most natural and synthetic resins and the common plasticizers. Common Uses

- Widely Used Cleanup Solvent for lacquers, varnishes, epoxies, glues, fibreglass & adhesives. As a heavy-duty degreaser, it is useful in the preparation of metal prior to painting. A clean-up solvent in the manufacture of fibreglass boats, campers, automotive panelling. Can remove superglue before hardening.
- Used by drycleaners in “spotting" solutions. Used in the compounding of fast drying printing inks.
- Paint and Resins: Thinner for polyester resins, fibreglass resin, vinyl, adhesives and some paints. A component of polyurethane and epoxy resins. Sold by fibreglass suppliers.
- Adhesives: ’s high solvency for a range of adhesive raw materials, and fast evaporation enables bonds to develop strength quickly at relatively low cost. used as a co-solvent in neoprene-based contact cements and nitrocellulose and acrylic cements. a useful clean up solvent for polyurethane adhesives.
- Cosmetics: Active ingredient in based nail polish and nail polish remover formulations.
- Electronics Industry: Used as a cleaning dewatering solvent for electronic components in between manufacturing steps. Industrial applications include:

- Paint and Resin Manufacture: a solvent for nitrocellulose, celluloid, cellulose acetate and cellulose ethers and reduces the viscosity of lacquer solutions based on these compounds. used in quick-drying lacquers because of its high volatility. High solids content coatings formulations are made using acetone.
- Pharmaceuticals: used as a solvent and dewatering agent in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
- Acetylene Gas Cylinders: Acetylene is an important industrial gas, but cannot be compressed sufficiently for storage in portable cylinders without risk of explosive detonation. Due to s ability to dissolve large quantities of acetylene gas (about 300 times its own volume), it is used in gas cylinders with the acetone being supported on an absorptive clay. As the acetylene gas is drawn off, some acetone vapour escapes with it and so the cylinders need to have the acetone replenished on a regular basis.