Aluminum

What is Aluminum Metal?

Aluminum (symbol Al) or alumium is a chemical element or silvery-white, lustrous, low melting, soft metal of Group 13 (IIIA) or boron family of the periodic table uses widely in our everyday life. Aluminum is the third most abundant chemical element after oxygen and silicon. The metal aluminum differs from the first member of Group 13 (boron) due to its chemical properties, high reactivity, and cationic chemistry in an aqueous solution.

Aluminum (Al) or alumium, chemical element of Group 13 of periodic table uses widely due to its properties and cheap in price

Aluminium is the most abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust (8 percent by weight).

It combines most of the nonmetallic elements like nitrogen, sulfur, and halogens. It forms intermetallic aluminum compounds with a large number of metals.

Properties of Aluminum

Face-centered cubic crystal lattice (fcc), aluminum has the chemical symbol Al, atomic number 13. The name aluminum comes from the Latin word alumen, which describes the aluminum potassium sulfate, KAl(SO₄)₂, 12H₂O.

Aluminum
Symbol	Al
Discovery	Hans Oersted in 1825
Name derived from	The Latin word for alum alumen means bitter salt
Common isotope	₁₃Al²⁷
Oxidation states	−2, −1, +1, +2, +3
CAS number	7429-90-5
Periodic properties
Atomic number	13
Relative atomic mass	26.982
Electron per cell	2, 8, 3
Electronic Configuration	[Ne] 3s² 3p¹
Block	p-block
Group	13
Period	3
Physical properties
State at 20 °C	Solid
Melting point	660.3 °C, 1220.6 °F, 933.5 K
Boiling point	2519 °C, 4566 °F, 2792 K
Molar heat capacity	16.443 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹
Crystal structure	face-centered cubic (fcc)
Density	2.70 g/cm³
Electrical resistivity	26.5 nΩ m
Atomic properties
Atomic radius (non-bonded)	1.84 Å
Covalent radius	1.24 Å
Electronegativity	1.61 (Pauling scale)
Electron affinity	41.762 kJ mol⁻¹
Ionization energy (kJ/mol)	1st	2nd	3rd
	577.54	1816.68	2744.78

The common oxidation number or states of metal +1 +2 and +3. Due to decreases in lattice energy with increasing size, aluminium should be likely to form an Al⁺³ ion. Due to large ionization energy not compensated by weak lattice energy, it commonly attains a +3 state by covalent bonding.

Aluminum in the Periodic Table

Aluminum is found in group 13 and period 3 of the periodic table. It is a metalloid that lies between boron and gallium.

Where is Aluminum Found?

The most abundant element, aluminum found in various silicate minerals like mica, feldspar, kaolinite, and clay. The only fluoride mineral is cryolite (Na₃AlF₆), found in Greenland.

The most important minerals found in nature as oxide and anhydrous hydrated oxides. Oxide like Corundum (Al₂O₃) is used in Gems (ruby, sapphire) due to its hardness.

Where is Bauxite Found?

The chief commercial source of metallic aluminum is hydroxo oxide like Al₂O₃, xH₂O, or bauxite. A workable bauxite sample contains 40 to 60 percent metal aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), 12 to 30 percent water, 1 to 15 percent iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), and 3 to 4 percent titanium oxide (TiO₂).

Rich deposits of bauxite are found in Australia, Brazil, Guinea, Jamaica, France, the United States, Russia, India, and several African countries.

Who Discovered Aluminum?

Alum was the compound of aluminum widely used in Rome for the production of different types of medicine and dyes in textiles.

British chemist Sir Humphry Davy failed to isolate the metal but suggested the name of the element aluminum or alumium.

In 1825 Denmark physicist Hans Christian Orsted first discovered the metal by reducing aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) with potassium amalgam. Commercial production of the element started in 1954 by electrolysis of NaAlCl₄.

Aluminum Production Process

It can be produced electrolytically from bauxite in electrochemical cells.

Purified bauxite (melting point 2050 °C) is dissolved in cryolite and electrolyzed at 950 °C in carbon lined steel cells.

A mixture of cryolite, CaF₂, AlF₃, Al₂O₃, and Li₂CO₃ in the electrolyte is used because it has a lower melting point, permits larger current flow, and reduces fluorine emission.

The electrode reaction for the production of aluminum,

Cathode: 2 Al⁺³ + 6e → 2 Al
Anode: 3 O⁻² → 3 O + 6e

The molten aluminum sinks to the bottom of the cell and drained out. The surface of the electrolyte was covered with a layer of coke, which oxidized evolving oxygen for the protection of valuable electrodes.

Chemical Properties

It is not attacked by water owing to the presence of a protective coating. If the film is removed by amalgamation, water forms [Al(OH)₃ + H₂]. All the elements of Group 13 have different chemical properties and reactivity.

For example, Al and Ga dissolve in aqueous hydrochloric acid giving M⁺³ ions but Tl does not due to the instability of TlCl.
Al is scarcely attacked by dilute sulfuric acid but concentrated acid is reduced to sulfur dioxide.
Dilute and concentrated nitric acid render aluminum passive by forming a protective oxide layer. Al dissolves in hot aqueous alkali (lithium, sodium, and potassium) to form [Al(OH)₄]⁻ and hydrogen.

Chemical Compounds

The electronic structure of Al suggests that it forms mostly trivalent chemical compounds. The aluminum compounds in the +3 state are dominantly by covalent chemical bonding. In suitable conditions, they formed +2 and +1 compounds like AlCl, Al₂O, and AlO.

In learning chemistry, the tripositive ion (Al⁺³) ions may be stabilized in aqueous solutions through strong hydration energy, usually, six water molecules held strongly by the Al⁺³ ion.

Aluminum Hydride

The hydride of Al is a colorless involatile solid, thermally unstable above 150-200 °C. It is a strong reducing agent and adducts with strong Lewis bases.

The tetrahydro complex of Al like LiAlH₄ is a very important chemical compound widely uses in organic chemistry or the reduction of hydrocarbon.

Aluminum Halides

All four trihalides of aluminum have the general formula AlX₃, where X = fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. All the compounds may be prepared by a direct combination of the metal with halides.

The properties of the trihalides are very wide. For example, fluoride is an ionic crystalline solid.

What is Alumina?

Alumina is an important chemical compound of aluminum with two structural forms, α-Al₂O₃ and ϒ-Al₂O₃.

The α-Al₂O₃occurs in nature as corundum which is resistant to water and acids and is used in Gems.

The γ-alumina is distorted, less dense, and soft with high surface tension in the liquid form. These qualities of γ-alumina are excellent reagents for dehydration, decolorization, and absorption chronograph.

β-alumina is now being developed as a ceramic ion conductor useful for high-energy batteries. Large quantities of alumina are used for the commercial production of aluminum.

Uses of Aluminum

In recent years aluminum acquired a high position among the metals due to its several exclusive properties,

it is easily malleable and non-toxic
fairly corrosion resistant in dry conditions
good thermal and electrical conductors.
it is cheap in price

The corrosion-resistant properties are due to the protective oxide layer in metal. Pure aluminum is quite soft and weak but the commercial form contains small amounts of silicon and carbon is hard and strong.

The mechanical strength of aluminium significantly increases by alloying with metals like iron, copper, manganese, silicon, magnesium, or zinc. Aluminum alloys are used in construction work, transportation, containers and packaging, electrical power lines, machinery, and the paint industry.

The metal and its alloys are now extensively used in aircraft, rocket fuels, trucks, trailers, and car frames.
In making windows, doors, and building panels we also used it.
In making machinery, utensils, and other household products including furniture also made of aluminum alloy.