Aluminium carbonate (Al2(CO3)3), is a carbonate of aluminium. It is not well characterized; one authority says that simple carbonates of aluminium are not known.[2] However related compounds are known, such as the basic sodium aluminium carbonate mineral dawsonite (NaAlCO3(OH)2) and hydrated basic aluminium carbonate minerals scarbroite (Al5(CO3)(OH)13•5(H2O)) and hydroscarbroite (Al14(CO3)3(OH)36•nH2O).[3][4][5]
| Names | |
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| IUPAC name
Dialuminium Tricarbonate
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| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol)
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| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.034.930 |
PubChem CID
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| UNII | |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
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| Properties | |
| Al2(CO3)3 | |
| Appearance | white powder, unstable |
| Density | 1.5 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 58 °C |
| Boiling point | decomposes |
| reacts | |
| Structure[1] | |
| orthorhombic | |
| Fdd2 | |
a = 21.989, b = 10.176, c = 4.4230
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Lattice volume (V)
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989.7 |
Formula units (Z)
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8 |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Preparation
editFor many years there was no evidence for the existence of any carbonate-containing ternary Al-C-O phase, i.e., Al2(CO3)3,[6] however in 2023 Al2[CO3]3 and Al2[C2O5][CO3]2 (dialuminium carbonate pyrocarbonate) were produced with a carbon dioxide pressure of 24 and 38 GPa. This means that the Earth's mantle may contain aluminium carbonate minerals.[7]
Some minerals contain both aluminium and carbonate. Dawsonite has the formula NaAlCO3(OH)2. Hydrotalcites, both synthetic and natural, are layered metal hydroxides comprised in part of aluminium and carbonate.[8]
Surface carbonate species readily form upon exposure of aluminium oxide to CO2.[9]
Uses
editAluminium carbonate, along with aluminium hydroxide and aluminium oxide, is a phosphate-binding drug that is sometimes administered to dogs and cats to bind intestinal phosphate and prevent the absorption of dietary phosphate as well as to decrease absorption of phosphate excreted by the pancreas. It is seldom used in humans because of concerns with toxicity, but cats and dogs do not appear to have a toxic response to its presence.[10]
The reaction of aluminium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate forms carbon dioxide and aluminium hydroxide which stabilises the formation of a foam.[6] This reaction was the basis of an early fire extinguisher invented by Aleksandr Loran in 1904.
References
edit- ^ Bayarjargal, Lkhamsuren; Spahr, Dominik; Milman, Victor; Marquardt, Julien; Giordano, Nico; Winkler, Björn (2023). CCDC 2259169: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination (Report). Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. doi:10.5517/ccdc.csd.cc2ftvfk.
- ^ Anthony John Downs, (1993), Chemistry of Aluminium, Gallium, Indium, and Thallium, Springer, ISBN 978-0-7514-0103-5
- ^ "Scarbroite". www.mindat.org.
- ^ "Hydroscarbroite". www.mindat.org.
- ^ "Dawsonite". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
- ^ a b Moody, Bernard (2013). Comparative Inorganic Chemistry. Elsevier. p. 311. ISBN 9781483280080.
- ^ Bayarjargal, Lkhamsuren; Spahr, Dominik; Milman, Victor; Marquardt, Julien; Giordano, Nico; Winkler, Björn (28 August 2023). "Anhydrous Aluminum Carbonates and Isostructural Compounds". Inorganic Chemistry. 62 (34): 13910–13918. doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01832. PMID 37579301. S2CID 260898136.
- ^ Costantino, Umberto; Marmottini, Fabio; Nocchetti, Morena; Vivani, Riccardo (1998). "New Synthetic Routes to Hydrotalcite-Like Compounds − Characterisation and Properties of the Obtained Materials". European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. 1998 (10): 1439–1446. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0682(199810)1998:10<1439::AID-EJIC1439>3.0.CO;2-1.
- ^ Parkyns, N. D. (1969-01-01). "The surface properties of metal oxides. Part II. An infrared study of the adsorption of carbon dioxide on γ-alumina". Journal of the Chemical Society A: Inorganic, Physical, Theoretical: 410–417. doi:10.1039/J19690000410. ISSN 0022-4944.
- ^ Deborah Silverstein; Kate Hopper (13 February 2008). Small Animal Critical Care Medicine - E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4160-6926-3.