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The surprising formation of aluminum: Why is it the third most abundant element on Earth?
Aluminum is called "Aluminum" in North American English. Its chemical symbol is Al and its atomic number is 13. Aluminum is less dense than other common metals, about one-third that of steel. This element has a strong affinity for oxygen and can quickly form a protective layer of oxidizing substances when exposed to air.
Aluminum has a similar appearance to silver and has a strong ability to reflect light, which makes it play an important role in industry and daily life.
Since the aluminum element was first discovered by Danish physicist Hans Christian Erst in 1825, it has experienced many industrial production innovations. In 1876, French engineer Paul Herut and American engineer Charles Martin Hall independently invented the Hall-Herut process, which greatly increased the production of aluminum, which also promoted the reuse of aluminum in war and civilian use.
Environmental and biological roles of aluminum
Although aluminum is very common in the environment, there is currently no evidence that organisms can directly metabolize aluminum salts. However, aluminum is well tolerated by plants and animals, making research into its possible biological roles a current hot topic.
Physical properties of aluminum
The physical properties of aluminum give it advantages in many industries. Because it is lighter than steel, it is widely used in the aerospace industry. Its density is only 2.70 g/cm³, which makes the lightness of aluminum parts a major advantage.
Aluminum's low density, good thermal and electrical conductivity, and excellent corrosion resistance make it an ideal material for mobile phones, computers, and many electronic products.
The crystal structure of aluminum is face-centered cubic. This structure enables aluminum to become a metal at room temperature and further exhibits softness and low melting point characteristics. Although pure aluminum is not as strong as steel, its advantages in light weight and strength make it very popular in the aviation industry.
Chemical reaction of aluminum
The chemical behavior of aluminum shows that it has the characteristics of both early transition metals and late transition metals, and it mostly exists in the +3 oxidation state in compounds. Aluminum's high electronegativity and relatively small cation radius enable aluminum to form strong covalent bond interactions.
Aluminum often serves as a reducing agent in thermodynamic reactions and can react with a variety of non-metals to form aluminum nitrides, aluminum sulfides and other compounds.
Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is ubiquitous in nature, mainly in the form of corundum. It is a very hard substance and is usually used to make abrasives and refractory materials.
Isotopes of aluminum and their applications
Among the isotopes of aluminum, only 27Al is stable, which is widely used in fields such as mass analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance. Compounds such as aluminum sulfate and aluminum hydroxide exhibit amphiphilic properties in chemical reactions, making them critical to water treatment and other industrial processes.
Future research directions
Currently, aluminum still plays an important role in many industrial applications. With in-depth research on its environmental impact and biocompatibility, aluminum may find applications in more diverse fields in the future.
Not only the development and utilization of resources, the chemical properties of aluminum and its possible biological functions are also the focus of current research. Will we be able to identify a role for aluminum in biological systems in the future, opening up entirely new application potentials?
