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<title>Britton–Robinson buffer</title>
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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Britton–Robinson buffer</span></span>
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<p>The <b>Britton–Robinson buffer</b> (<b>BRB</b> or <b>PEM</b>) is a "universal" <a href="PH" title="PH">pH</a> <a href="Buffer_solution" title="Buffer solution">buffer</a> used for the pH range from 2 to 12. It has been used historically as an alternative to the <a href="McIlvaine_buffer" title="McIlvaine buffer">McIlvaine buffer</a>, which has a smaller pH range of effectiveness (from 2 to 8).<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Universal buffers consist of mixtures of acids of diminishing strength (increasing <a href="Acid_dissociation_constant" title="Acid dissociation constant">p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub></a>), so that the change in pH is approximately proportional to the amount of alkali added. It consists of a mixture of 0.04 M <a href="Boric_acid" title="Boric acid">boric acid</a>, 0.04 M <a href="Phosphoric_acid" title="Phosphoric acid">phosphoric acid</a> and 0.04 M <a href="Acetic_acid" title="Acetic acid">acetic acid</a> that has been titrated to the desired pH with 0.2 M <a href="Sodium_hydroxide" title="Sodium hydroxide">sodium hydroxide</a>. Britton and Robinson also proposed a second formulation that gave an essentially linear pH response to added alkali from pH 2.5 to pH 9.2 (and buffers to pH 12). This mixture consists of 0.0286 M <a href="Citric_acid" title="Citric acid">citric acid</a>, 0.0286 M <a href="Monopotassium_phosphate" title="Monopotassium phosphate">monopotassium phosphate</a>, 0.0286 M boric acid, 0.0286 M <a href="Barbital" title="Barbital">veronal</a> and 0.0286 M <a href="Hydrochloric_acid" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a> titrated with 0.2 M sodium hydroxide.
</p><p>The buffer was invented in 1931 by the English chemist <a href="Hubert_Britton" title="Hubert Britton">Hubert Thomas Stanley "Kevin" Britton</a> (1892–1960) and the New Zealand chemist <a href="Robert_Anthony_Robinson" title="Robert Anthony Robinson">Robert Anthony Robinson</a> (1904–1979).<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Buffer_solution" title="Buffer solution">Buffer solution</a></li>
<li><a href="Good's_buffers" title="Good's buffers">Good's buffers</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFMongayCerdà1974" class="citation journal cs1">Mongay, Carlos; Cerdà, Víctor (January 1974). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285064939">"A Britton-Robinson Buffer of Known Ionic Strength"</a>. <i>Annali di Chimica</i>. <b>64</b>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBrittonRobinson1931" class="citation journal cs1">Britton, Hubert Thomas Stanley; Robinson, Robert Anthony (1931). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1931/jr/jr9310000458">"The use of the antimony–antimonous oxide electrode in the determination of the concentration of hydrogen ions and in potenliometric titrations. The Prideaux–Ward universal buffer mixture"</a></span>. <i>Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)</i>. Royal Society of Chemistry: <span class="nowrap">747–</span>748. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1039%2FJR9310001456">10.1039/JR9310001456</a>.</cite></span>
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