Ammonium persulfate₂S₂O₈ is a strong oxidizing agent

Oxidizing agent

An oxidizing agent can be defined as a substance that removes electrons from another reactant in a redox chemical reaction...

. It is very soluble in water; the dissolution of the salt in water is endothermic. It is a radical initiator

Radical initiator

In chemistry, radical initiators are substances that can produce radical species under mild conditions and promote radical reactions . These substances generally possess weak bonds—bonds that have small bond dissociation energies. Radical initiators are utilized in industrial processes such...

. It is used to etch copper on printed circuit boards as an alternative to ferric chloride solution. It is also used along with tetramethylethylenediamine

Tetramethylethylenediamine

Tetramethylethylenediamine is a chemical compound with the formula 2NCH2CH2N2. This species is derived from ethylenediamine by replacement of the four N-H groups with four N-methyl groups. Its odor is remarkably similar to that of fish.-As a reagent in organic and inorganic synthesis:TMEDA is...

 to catalyze the polymerization of acrylamide

Acrylamide

Acrylamide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula C3H5NO. Its IUPAC name is prop-2-enamide. It is a white odourless crystalline solid, soluble in water, ethanol, ether, and chloroform. Acrylamide is incompatible with acids, bases, oxidizing agents, iron, and iron salts...

 in making a polyacrylamide

Polyacrylamide

Polyacrylamide is a polymer formed from acrylamide subunits. It can be synthesized as a simple linear-chain structure or cross-linked, typically using N,N-methylenebisacrylamide. Polyacrylamide is not toxic...

 gel.

Ammonium persulfate was prepared by H.