Bromine monochloride is added to certain types of Li-SO2 batteries to increase voltage and energy density.
Bromine chloride is a toxic red-yellow flowing liquid or gas, and is a strong oxidizing agent. The substance is initially corrosive to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract, leading to chronic inflammation and impaired function. Inhalation may cause asthma, pneumonia or pulmonary edema. Bromine chloride is used as a brominating agent in the preparation of flame-retardant chemicals, medicines, high-concentration brominated solutions, pesticides, dyes, bleaching agents, etc. This chapter provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the toxicity of bromine chloride, its management and the risk issues involved. The goal is to provide the latest research, safety measures and related handling and storage.
Oddly enough, given the close attention paid to the many compounds formed between halogens, our knowledge of bromine chloride is so vague that its existence is often denied. In 1826, Balard described a compound formed by the direct combination of bromine and chlorine, and a few years later Loewig claimed to have isolated a hydrate. Bromine chloride 5H2O, from solution. Berthelot raised some doubts about this early work due to the small heat of solution of chlorine gas in liquid bromine. Lebeau found that the composition of the crystals prepared according to Balard's instructions was variable, and concluded from this and the melting point curve of the chlorine-bromine mixture that no compound was actually present.
A system in the visible and near-infrared bands generated by the combination of atomic chlorine and atomic bromine has recently been reported, Br + Cl + M = BrCl* + M, BrCl* = BrCl + h?. The transition involved is thought to be 3II0+?1?+ (ref. 1). Since the visible-band absorption spectrum of bromine chloride has not been published to date, the exact vibrational or rotational constants of this molecular state are unknown. The infrared absorption spectrum of bromine chloride2,3 only gives an approximate value of ?e? at 442.5 cm-1 because the 79,81Br and 35,37Cl isotope splitting is not resolved. This result is consistent with Herzberg4’s ?e? = 440 cm? 1 Consistent with estimates based on earlier studies of two VUV band systems for bromine chloride5.