Dichloromethane (DCM or methylene chloride) is an organochloride compound with the formula CH2Cl2. This colorless, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like, sweet odour is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with water, it is polar, and miscible with many organic solvents.
The chemical compound's low boiling point allows the chemical to function in a heat engine that can extract mechanical energy from small temperature differences. An example of a DCM heat engine is the drinking bird. The toy works at room temperature.[18] It is also used as the fluid in Christmas bubble lights that have a colored bubbling tube above a lamp as a source of heat and a small amount of rock salt to provide thermal mass and a nucleation site for the phase changing solvent.
DCM chemically welds certain plastics. For example, it is used to seal the casing of electric meters. Often sold as a main component of plastic welding adhesives, it is also used extensively by model building hobbyists for joining plastic components together. It is commonly referred to as "Di-clo."
It is used in the garment printing industry for removal of heat-sealed garment transfers, and its volatility is exploited in novelty items: bubble lights and jukebox displays.
DCM is used in the material testing field of civil engineering; specifically it is used during the testing of bituminous materials as a solvent to separate the binder from the aggregate of an asphalt or macadam to allow the testing of the materials.[19]
Dichloromethane extract of Asparagopsis taxiformis, a seaweed fodder for cattle, has been found to reduce their methane emissions by 79%.[20]
It has been used as the principal component of paint stripper, although replacements exist.
Methylene chloride is a Lewis acid that can hydrogen bond to electron donors. It is classified as a hard acid and is included in the ECW model. It is a solvent that has been used in many thermodynamic studies of donor-acceptor bonding. The donor hydrogen-bonding corrections of methylene chloride in these thermodynamic studies has been reported.
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