Aluminium - Revision history

Apm: /* Related / added link to yet unwritten page Water reactive gemstones

2025-09-05T07:57:50Z

Related: added link to yet unwritten page * Water reactive gemstones

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:57, 5 September 2025
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	* [[Chemical element]]		* [[Chemical element]]
	* [[Boron]]		* [[Boron]]
			* [[Water reactive gemstones]]

	[[Category:Chemical element]]		[[Category:Chemical element]]

Apm: /* Aluminum carbides */

2025-09-05T07:35:11Z

Aluminum carbides

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:35, 5 September 2025
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	=== Aluminum carbides ===		=== Aluminum carbides ===

	Aluminium carbide Al<sub>4</sub>C<sub>3</sub> is interesting because:		Aluminium carbide Al<sub>4</sub>C<sub>3</sub> (~Mohs 8) is interesting because:
	* silicon and aluminium behave similar with oxygen <br>forming quartz and sapphire respectively - both hard transparent water insoluble		* silicon and aluminium behave similar with oxygen <br>forming quartz and sapphire respectively - both hard transparent water insoluble
	* silicon and aluminium behave different with carbon<br> forming moissanite and a nameless (since water soluble) gem<br>		* silicon and aluminium behave different with carbon<br> forming moissanite and a nameless (since water soluble) gem<br>

Apm: /* Related */

2022-05-14T21:25:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:25, 14 May 2022
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	* [[Chemical element]]		* [[Chemical element]]
			* [[Boron]]

	[[Category:Chemical element]]		[[Category:Chemical element]]

Apm: * Chemical element

2021-06-13T20:18:10Z

* Chemical element

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 13 June 2021
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	Salts of aluminium usually have low solubility in water.		Salts of aluminium usually have low solubility in water.
	Albeit aluminiums extreme abundance in our environment (most abundant metal in earth's crust) it does not play a known role in human biology. Elevated intake of aluminium salts (rare in nature) is suspected of having detrimental effects on health.		Albeit aluminiums extreme abundance in our environment (most abundant metal in earth's crust) it does not play a known role in human biology. Elevated intake of aluminium salts (rare in nature) is suspected of having detrimental effects on health.

			== Related ==

			* [[Chemical element]]

	[[Category:Chemical element]]		[[Category:Chemical element]]

Apm: /* More aluminium based gemstone materials */ added Ternary and higher gem-like compounds

2021-06-13T16:48:14Z

More aluminium based gemstone materials: added Ternary and higher gem-like compounds

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:48, 13 June 2021
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	* Al<sub>6</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>13</sub> Mullite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullite] (Mohs 6-7)		* Al<sub>6</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>13</sub> Mullite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullite] (Mohs 6-7)
	* Al<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub> Kyanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyanite] (Mohs 4.5-7 anisotropic)		* Al<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub> Kyanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyanite] (Mohs 4.5-7 anisotropic)

			Related: [[Ternary and higher gem-like compounds]]

	== Interesting facts ==		== Interesting facts ==

Apm: /* Limitedness of stable binary compounds */ added discussion of aluminum carbide

2019-10-02T09:11:48Z

Limitedness of stable binary compounds: added discussion of aluminum carbide

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 * aluminium sulfoxide Al<sub>4</sub>O<sub>3</sub></sub>S<sub>3</sub>
 * aluminium phosphonitride Al<sub>2</sub>NP
 == More aluminium based gemstone materials ==

Apm: added polymorphs of dialuminium-trioxide

2017-07-12T11:52:39Z

added polymorphs of dialuminium-trioxide

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:52, 12 July 2017
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	Advanced atomically precise technology should make it possible to fully extract those (potentially valuable) heavy metals directly by efficient chemomechanic processing and indirectly by the availability of very cheap energy. This is a form of [[atomically precise disassembly]] which is harder than [[mechanosynthesis]] and thus not to expect early on.		Advanced atomically precise technology should make it possible to fully extract those (potentially valuable) heavy metals directly by efficient chemomechanic processing and indirectly by the availability of very cheap energy. This is a form of [[atomically precise disassembly]] which is harder than [[mechanosynthesis]] and thus not to expect early on.

	== ~~Limitedness of stable binary compounds~~ ==~~[[Category:Chemical element]]~~		== Simple oxides ==

	The most ~~obvvious~~ form to use aluminium in advanced atomically precise technology is in the form of the gemstone ~~leukosapphire~~ Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> <br>		The most obvious form to use aluminium in advanced atomically precise technology is in the form of the naturally occuring gemstone
	Most other nonmetal compounds of aluminium strongly react with water and thus do not ~~form~~ useful structural building materials.		leuco-sapphire (aka colorless gem grade corundum) other [[strongly metastable polymorph]]s though may be of equal or even higher interest due to their different crystal structure.
	* aluminium nitride AlN (surface hydrolysis creates passivation layer) this may still be useful
			Hexagonal polymorphs are:
			* '''α-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> leuco-sapphire (Mohs 9 \| Trigonal)'''. <br>
			* χ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> ( Mohs ?? \| hexagonal)

			Cubic polymorphs (may be of special interest due to their high symmetry):
			* '''γ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (known to be strongly metastable) (Mohs 8)'''<br>(Is there no natural mineral with that structure?)
			* η-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>
			Orthorhombic:
			* κ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>
			* δ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>
			Monoclinic (maybe less interesting due to very low symmetry):
			* θ-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>

			{{todo\|Identify the exact structure types of the polymorphs with Wyckoff points such that related compounds with other elements replacing aluminium can be identified. Those can then be used to explore the corresponding [[pseudo phase diagram]]s and to induce [[isostructural bending]]}}

			== Limitedness of stable binary compounds ==

			Most other nonmetal compounds of aluminium beside Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> strongly react with water and thus may not be considered as useful structural building materials.
			* aluminium nitride AlN (surface hydrolysis creates a passivation layer on macroscopic chunks) this may still be useful
	* aluminium carbide Al<sub>4</sub>C<sub>3</sub> (reacts with water to aluminium hydroxide and methane - irritant)		* aluminium carbide Al<sub>4</sub>C<sub>3</sub> (reacts with water to aluminium hydroxide and methane - irritant)
	* aluminium fluoride AlF<sub>3</sub> (water soluble; interestingly low toxicity)		* aluminium fluoride AlF<sub>3</sub> (water soluble; interestingly low toxicity)

Apm: added to Category:Chemical element

2016-12-03T18:47:11Z

added to Category:Chemical element

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:47, 3 December 2016
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	Advanced atomically precise technology should make it possible to fully extract those (potentially valuable) heavy metals directly by efficient chemomechanic processing and indirectly by the availability of very cheap energy. This is a form of [[atomically precise disassembly]] which is harder than [[mechanosynthesis]] and thus not to expect early on.		Advanced atomically precise technology should make it possible to fully extract those (potentially valuable) heavy metals directly by efficient chemomechanic processing and indirectly by the availability of very cheap energy. This is a form of [[atomically precise disassembly]] which is harder than [[mechanosynthesis]] and thus not to expect early on.

	== Limitedness of stable binary compounds ==		== Limitedness of stable binary compounds ==[[Category:Chemical element]]

	The most obvvious form to use aluminium in advanced atomically precise technology is in the form of the gemstone leukosapphire Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> <br>		The most obvvious form to use aluminium in advanced atomically precise technology is in the form of the gemstone leukosapphire Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> <br>
Line 38:		Line 38:
	Salts of aluminium usually have low solubility in water.		Salts of aluminium usually have low solubility in water.
	Albeit aluminiums extreme abundance in our environment (most abundant metal in earth's crust) it does not play a known role in human biology. Elevated intake of aluminium salts (rare in nature) is suspected of having detrimental effects on health.		Albeit aluminiums extreme abundance in our environment (most abundant metal in earth's crust) it does not play a known role in human biology. Elevated intake of aluminium salts (rare in nature) is suspected of having detrimental effects on health.

			[[Category:Chemical element]]

Apm: /* More aluminium based gemstone materials */ kyanite

2016-10-07T12:53:48Z

More aluminium based gemstone materials: kyanite

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:53, 7 October 2016
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	* Al<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub> Andalusite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusite] & Sillimanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sillimanite] (Mohs 6.5-7)		* Al<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub> Andalusite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusite] & Sillimanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sillimanite] (Mohs 6.5-7)
	* Al<sub>6</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>13</sub> Mullite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullite] (Mohs 6-7)		* Al<sub>6</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>13</sub> Mullite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullite] (Mohs 6-7)
			* Al<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub> Kyanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyanite] (Mohs 4.5-7 anisotropic)

	== Interesting facts ==		== Interesting facts ==

Apm: basic outline

2016-10-07T10:55:06Z

basic outline

New page

== Mining ==

Today (2016) Aluminium is still only economically extractable from minerals that do not contain silicon.
Silicon is the second most common element in earth's crust just after oxygen.

As waste copious amounts or red mud [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mud] are produced.
Red mud is mostly composed out of iron oxides, titanium oxides and alkaline silicic acid compounds.
The problematic part is that red mud also contains ~1% soluble heavy metal salts (V Cr As) which makes it rather toxic.
Advanced atomically precise technology should make it possible to fully extract those (potentially valuable) heavy metals directly by efficient chemomechanic processing and indirectly by the availability of very cheap energy. This is a form of [[atomically precise disassembly]] which is harder than [[mechanosynthesis]] and thus not to expect early on.

== Limitedness of stable binary compounds ==

The most obvvious form to use aluminium in advanced atomically precise technology is in the form of the gemstone leukosapphire Al2O3 
Most other nonmetal compounds of aluminium strongly react with water and thus do not form useful structural building materials.
* aluminium nitride AlN (surface hydrolysis creates passivation layer) this may still be useful
* aluminium carbide Al4C3 (reacts with water to aluminium hydroxide and methane - irritant)
* aluminium fluoride AlF3 (water soluble; interestingly low toxicity)
* aluminium sulfide Al2S3 (toxic due to hydrogen sulfide H2S generation when contacting water)
* aluminium phosphide AlP (highly toxic due to generation of phosphine PH3 when contacting water)
* aluminium chloride AlCl3 (water soluble; toxic neurotoxine)

Mechanosynthetisized [[nonthermodynamic compound|nonthermodynamic]] checkerboard pattern compounds like the following may be stable:
* aluminium sulfoxide Al4O3S3
* aluminium phosphonitride Al2NP

== More aluminium based gemstone materials ==

A good point to start are always the natural aluminium minerals [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aluminium_minerals].
Since they need to be insoluble to persist on the surface (except in very dry environments).

There are many aluminium silicate minerals [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_silicate] like:
* Al2SiO5 Andalusite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusite] & Sillimanite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sillimanite] (Mohs 6.5-7)
* Al6Si2O13 Mullite [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullite] (Mohs 6-7)

== Interesting facts ==

Salts of aluminium usually have low solubility in water.
Albeit aluminiums extreme abundance in our environment (most abundant metal in earth's crust) it does not play a known role in human biology. Elevated intake of aluminium salts (rare in nature) is suspected of having detrimental effects on health.