Buffers & Buffer Solutions:

Buffers are substances that minimize changes in concentrations of ions i.e. either H + ions or OH-
ions. A buffer solution is that which resists changes in pH and whose pH is not altered to any
great extent by the addition of small quantities of either strong acid (H+ ions) or a strong base
(OH ions) is called the buffer solution.
Composition of a buffer:
Buffer in acidic range is a mixture of a weak acid and salt of conjugate base of the weak acid.
And a buffer in a basic region is a mixture of weak base and salt of conjugate acid of weak base.
Le Chatelier's Principle and working of buffers:
We have studied years earlier in FSc a principle called Le Chateliers principle. All buffers works
on Le Chateliers principle. Le Chatelier's Principle states that the left and right side of the reaction
prefer a certain balance or ratio between themselves. We now that many chemical reactions are
reversible. As we talk about weak acid in buffer solutions generally so we take an example of a
weak acid,

CH3COOH CH3COO- + H+

CH3COO- and H+ (the products) can combine to form CH3COOH (starting material), which may
called as "reverse reaction." A reaction can thus proceed to the right or left, forward or reverse. In
this case, Le Chatelier's Principle basically states that if you add more products (H+ or acetate), the
reaction will shift to the left (toward starting materials) and the starting material (acetic acid) will
form in response. When CH3COOH forms, H+ is removed from the solution as it bonds with
CH3COO-, and thus the acidity of the solution will not increase and if a base is added, more H+ is
released and the pH of the solution remain unchanged. This is the method by which a buffer
solution, or a combination of an acid and its conjugate base, can resist changes in pH.

Importance of Buffers:
Chemistry plays an important role in our surrounding environment, daily lives and biological
systems. So buffers being an integral part of inorganic chemistry also prove the importance of
applied chemistry in environment and other sectors.
1. Importance of Buffers in Physiological Systems:
Processes that take place in living organisms are called physiological processes. Like blood
circulatory system, respiration etc. The internal pH of most living cells is close to 7.0. The pH of
 human blood is 7.4. A blood pH of below 7 or above 7.8 can cause death within minutes. So
buffering of blood pH is very important to stabilize it around 7.4. pH plays an important role in
almost all biological processes. Small change in pH i.e. deceased or high pH can cause metabolic
implications in human body like acidosis and alkalosis. Where metabolism is involved there would
be definitely a need of buffer as within cells metabolism is associated with the release of protons
(H+) i.e. decrease in pH or uptake of protons (H+) i.e. increase in pH. Important buffers that are
dominant in human body are
1. Bicarbonate buffers
2. Phosphate buffers
3. Protein buffers
Different factors are involved in choosing a buffer for a particular biological reaction or biological
sites. These factors include
Temperature
Desired pH
Toxicity to the system
Interactions of buffer with other biological components
1.1. Bicarbonates buffers (Buffering in blood)
Blood is a biological fluid in which Carbonic acid and Hydrogen carbonate buffer system plays an
important role in maintaining pH around 7.40. In this buffer, carbonic acid (H2CO3) act as a weak
acid and hydrogen carbonate ion (HCO3-) act as conjugate base of a weak acid or salt of weak acid.
H2CO3 H+ + HCO3-
When there is excessive amount of H+ in the blood it is consumed by HCO3- forming carbonic acid
that is a weak acid which does not alter the blood pH so much and when there is excessive amount
of OH- in the blood it is consumed by H2CO3 as it will release the H+ ions upon excess amount of
OH- in the blood forming H2O.
Proportion of carbonic acid and hydrogen carbonate is also very much important in blood.
Carbonic acid concentration is controlled by respiration through lungs while hydrogen carbonate
concentration is controlled by urination through kidneys.
Carbonic acid buffer system is a critical buffer for blood as in the absence of this buffer system
the pH may fall below this normal value within blood producing a condition a condition
called acidosis ( acidosis may be respiratory or metabolic acidosis) or the pH may rise above
 normal level producing a condition known as alkalosis (alkalosis may be respiratory or metabolic
acidosis).
As most of the metabolic activities in the human body release acidic materials in the blood so to
control acidic conditions the much higher concentration of hydrogen carbonate ion than carbonic
acid in blood should be present as acidic materials will react with hydrogen carbonate to produce
weak acid called carbonic acid that does not alter the pH of the blood to great extent.
1.2. Phosphate buffer (Buffering of internal cell fluids)
The phosphate buffer system works in the internal fluid of all cells. This buffer system consists of
dihydrogen phosphate ions (H2PO4-) as a weak acid and hydrogen phosphate ions (HPO42-) as a
conjugate base of weak acid. These two ions are in equilibrium with each other as indicated by the
chemical equation below.

H2PO4- H+ + HPO42-
If additional hydrogen ions enter the cellular fluid, they are consumed in the reaction with HPO42-
, and the equilibrium shifts to the left. If additional hydroxide ions enter the cellular fluid, they
react with H2PO4-, producing HPO42-, and shifting the equilibrium to the right. In the absence of
phosphate buffer from cell fluid, sharp changes in pH of cell fluids may cause cell death or
improper working of different proteins and cell organelles present within the cell.

1.3. Protein buffer (Buffering in Cells and Tissues)

Proteins are mainly composed of amino acids. These amino acids contain functional groups that
act as weak acid and bases when there are sharp changes in pH in order to stabilize the pH within
the body cells. In short it can be said that proteins act as buffers themselves. Protein is a significant
buffer the main buffering site for protein is cells and tissues but even in blood it act as a buffer
consuming hydrogen ions producing due to the dissociation of the carbonic acid into hydrogen
bicarbonate. To understand the proteins as a buffer we have to look into the structure of amino
acids which consists of

carboxyl group (COOH)

amino group (NH2)
hydrogen atom
R group
 From the above four groups COOH and NH2 act as buffer systems for acidic and basic conditions.
At a near neutral pH, like the pH of blood, the carboxyl group is actually COO- instead of
COOH. Then, if a protein finds itself in a more acidic solution, the carboxyl group will be able to
take on the extra hydrogen ions and return to the COOH configuration.
At a near neutral pH, like in blood, the amino group is actually NH3+ rather than just NH2. It
actually tends to carry an extra hydrogen ion on it at a normal pH. Then, if a protein finds itself in
a more basic environment, its amino groups on its amino acids can actually release their hydrogen
ions and return to NH2. As all cells and tissues are composed of proteins mainly so in the absence
of protein buffer the sharp changes in pH may cause cell death or tissue damage of a living
organisms.
2. Importance of buffers in industries:
Buffers are of prime importance in different kind of industrial processes especially in
pharmaceuticals, fermentation/food and textile dyeing industries. It also finds its role in many other
industries as described below.

2.1. Importance of buffers in Pharmaceuticals Industries:

Most of the medicines are prepared in aqueous solution of different chemicals so these aqueous
solutions require a constant pH in order to assure the stability and clinical effectiveness of a
medicines and this is done through buffers. Buffers are also added in pharmaceuticals to improve
patient comfort and to make longer transportation of medicines possible. Apart from this buffers
are also used to:

Maintain some drug or medicine in ionized form as ionized forms are more soluble in aqueous
solutions.
Maintain some drug or medicine in un-ionized form as un-ionized forms are more soluble in lipids.
Maintain the stability of drugs in different aqueous solutions as many drugs are vulnerable to
hydrolysis of aqueous solutions.
Maintain the pH of most of the drugs or medicine near to neutral otherwise that specific drug or
medicine may cause irritation in body tissues.

2.2. Importance of buffers in fermentation and food industry:

 Each fermentation process requires a specific pH for the best results. The pH during a
fermentation process changes by itself due to fermentation process so to control this pH change
buffers play an important role. During fermentation of baking bread the pH of the dough will
decrease due to released carbon dioxide and other organic acids. In dough flour and milk act as
buffering agents and they resist the pH drop due to the release of carbon dioxide. Apart from these
natural buffers some chemical buffers like calcium carbonate are also used to maintain pH during
fermentation process.

Buffers are also used in foods to maintain the acidity of the food in order to preserve the flavor
and appearance of food. Buffers maintain the physical, chemical and microbiological stability of
foods. Actually food additives act as buffers usually consist of metal salts and weak acids found
naturally within the food to be preserved. For example, the addition of sodium citrate to a food
containing citric acid will create a buffer solution.

2.3. Importance of buffers in dyeing industry:

Dyes in textile industries play an important role in giving color to different fabrics. Color strength
of dyes is closely related to narrow pH range which is maintained by using different buffer systems.
pH above or below this narrow range will affect the color imparting ability of different dyes.

2.4. Importance of buffers in other miscellaneous industries:

Buffers of different types are majorly used in above explained three types of industries. However,
buffers also play an important role in:

Printing industries as pH of paper and inks must be controlled to assure proper penetration and
drying of the ink.
Electroplating industries as some alloys can be plated if very strict pH control is maintained.
Leather industries as narrow range of pH control of tanning and dyeing baths determine the
texture and color of the finished product.
Glue and gelatin manufacturing industries as properties of gelatin and glue vary rapidly with
a very slight change in pH during manufacture.
3. Importance of buffers in nature:
Buffers are critical to different kinds of natural systems like water and soil systems.
3.1. Buffering in water bodies:
Water bodies like lakes, streams, rivers are important habitat for aquatic life forms like fish and
amphibians. Like all other living organisms aquatic life also need stable pH to survive in the water
bodies. But there are many external factors which tend to destabilize the pH of water bodies
making them unfit for the survival of aquatic life forms. One of the major threats that play its part
to disturb the pH of water is acid rain. We all know that acid rain is produced due to the mixing of
coming down rain water with atmospheric sulphur dioxide to form sulphuric acid. The amount of
basic buffer solutions in the water is termed the "alkalinity" of the water. When the pH of a specific
water body drops down due to the addition of acidic water in the form of acid rain the basic buffer
solutions like dissolved CaCO3 react with acidic water to neutralize its effects. In this way the pH
of water bodies is maintained which is necessary for the survival of aquatic species. Otherwise
extreme pH like 2 or 13 may cause physical damage to gills, exoskeleton and fins of fish. Apart
from this a decreased pH in water increases the dissolved mercury content in water and an
increased pH causes the production of toxic ammonia in water bodies.
Sources of basic buffer solutions or materials to the water bodies may include

Soils in the surrounding areas

Mineral and rocks in the surrounding of water body
3.2. Buffering in soils:
Like water bodies pH also plays a critical role in soils also since plants grow best within a narrow
pH range. Acidification of the soils (like in water bodies) is a serious problem rather than alkaline
condition of soils that is a rare phenomenon. Type of buffers that may be present in soil depends
on its organic and mineral content or we can say that mineral and organic content act as buffers in
soil. More threatening to most of the soils is acid rain as acid rain fall on soil it will neutralize its
effects if the minerals like limestone and calcite are present in the soil.

It is important to maintain the pH of soil as it is critical to the health of vegetation and soil
microorganisms as soil act as a habitat for microorganisms and it also provides nutrients beneficial
to growth of different crops and vegetation. When acid rain passes through the soil, the acidic
water dissolves most of the crop beneficial nutrients from soil and leached them away. Similarly
bacteria residing in soil also cannot tolerate the decrease in pH of soil due to acid rain so the most
 of the beneficial bacteria that take part in the process of nitrogen fixation and nitrification and
breakdown of beneficial organic matter.

4. Importance of buffers in other systems:

In bacteriological research culture media are generally buffered to maintain the pH as bacteria
required a constant pH all the time to grow.
Most of the chemical reactions are pH dependant so in order to occur these reactions properly a
narrow range of pH is maintained by adding buffer system.
Many physio-chemical processes like cause acidification in water bodies and other systems as
described earlier so in order to tackle the effects of physio-chemical processes buffer systems are
required. Physio-chemical processes may include acidification through atmospheric CO2,
atmospheric acid deposition, cation uptake and proton exchange, basification by partial soluble
carbonates etc.