[4] The sulfate radical formed in situ has a standard electrode potential of 2.7 V. However, there are a few drawbacks in utilizing platinum anodes to produce the salts; the manufacturing process is inefficient due to oxygen evolution and the product could contain contaminants coming from platinum corrosion (mainly due to extremely oxidizing nature of the sulfate radical).
[5] The sodium and potassium salts adopt very similar structures in the solid state, according to X-ray crystallography.
It is a replacement for ammonium persulfate in etching mixtures for zinc and printed circuit boards, and is used for pickling of copper and some other metals.
It is also used as a soil conditioner and for soil and groundwater remediation[5][6] and in manufacture of dyestuffs, modification of starch, bleach activator, desizing agent for oxidative desizing, etc.
[7] The salt is an oxidizer and forms combustible mixtures with organic materials such as paper.