Polyaspartic acid

Polyaspartic acid (CAS 25608-40-6), also referred to as PAA, is a biodegradable polyamino acid polymer.

Where is Polyaspartic acid used?

• Water treatment: scale inhibitor and dispersant that prevents mineral deposits on surfaces and equipment in contact with hard water or process fluids
• Water treatment: inhibits calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate scales in cooling towers, boilers, and reverse osmosis systems, replacing conventional phosphonate-based chemistries where environmental compliance is required
• Agriculture: incorporated into fertilizer blends to enhance nutrient uptake efficiency, particularly for micronutrients like zinc and iron in various soil applications to improve crop yields
• Personal care: conditioning polymer and dispersant in rinse-off products where biodegradability is a requirement
• Household cleaners: sequesters hardness ions for better performance
• It improves surfactant performance in hard water conditions.

Good to know: It is commonly provided in sodium salt form, though dry powder grades are available for applications requiring solid formulations.

Commercial specifications

• Aqueous solution, typically at concentrations of 40% or 50% active content
• Documentation typically includes heavy metal limits and molecular weight specifications relevant to scale inhibition performance