Editing Aluminium (section)

== Applications ==

[[File:Austin A40 Roadster ca 1951.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Aluminium-bodied [[Austin A40 Sports]] (c. 1951)]]

=== Metal ===
{{See also|Aluminium alloy}}

The global production of aluminium in 2016 was 58.8&nbsp;million metric tons. It exceeded that of any other metal except [[iron]] (1,231&nbsp;million metric tons).<ref name="BGS2018">{{cite book|url=https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=3396|title=World Mineral Production: 2012–2016|last1=Brown|first1=T.J.|last2=Idoine|first2=N.E.|last3=Raycraft|first3=E.R.|last4=Shaw|first4=R.A.|last5=Hobbs|first5=S.F.|last6=Everett|first6=P.|last7=Deady|first7=E.A.|last8=Bide|first8=T.|display-authors=3|date=2018|publisher=British Geological Survey|isbn=978-0-85272-882-6|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=16 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516174440/https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/directDownload.cfm?id=3396&noexcl=true&t=World%20Mineral%20Production%202012%20to%202016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Aluminum|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/17944/aluminum-Al|access-date=6 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312125740/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/17944/aluminum-Al|archive-date=12 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Aluminium is almost always alloyed, which markedly improves its mechanical properties, especially when [[tempering (metallurgy)|tempered]]. For example, the common [[aluminium foil]]s and beverage cans are alloys of 92% to 99% aluminium.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Aluminum-Foil.html|title=Aluminum Foil|last1=Millberg|first1=L.S.|website=How Products are Made|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713102210/http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Aluminum-Foil.html|archive-date=13 July 2007|url-status=live|volume=1|access-date=11 August 2007}}</ref> The main [[alloying]] agents for both wrought and cast aluminium are [[copper]], [[zinc]], [[magnesium]], [[manganese]], and [[silicon]] (e.g., [[duralumin]]) with the levels of other metals in a few percent by weight.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|last1=Sanders|first1=R.E.|last2=Lyle|first2=J.P.|last3=Granger|first3=D.A.|date=2021|publisher=Wiley-VCH|chapter=Aluminum Alloys|doi=10.1002/14356007.a01_481.pub2|title-link=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|isbn=978-3-527-30673-2|page=6}}</ref><ref name="ross13">{{cite book
|last1=Ross|first1=R.B.|title=Metallic Materials Specification Handbook|date=2013
|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781461534822
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v171BwAAQBAJ|access-date=3 June 2021
|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611060734/https://books.google.com/books?id=v171BwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Drinking can ring-pull tab.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|[[Aluminium can]]]]

The major uses for aluminium are in:{{sfn|Davis|1999|pp=17–24}}
* Transportation ([[automobile]]s, aircraft, [[truck]]s, [[railway car]]s, marine vessels, [[bicycle]]s, spacecraft, ''etc.''). Aluminium is used because of its low density;
* Packaging ([[aluminium can|cans]], foil, frame, etc.). Aluminium is used because it is non-toxic (see [[#Toxicity|below]]), non-[[Adsorption|adsorptive]], and [[splinter]]-proof;
* Building and construction ([[window]]s, [[door]]s, [[Siding (construction)|siding]], building wire, sheathing, roofing, ''etc.''). Since steel is cheaper, aluminium is used when lightness, corrosion resistance, or engineering features are important;
* Electricity-related uses (conductor alloys, motors, and generators, transformers, capacitors, ''etc.''). Aluminium is used because it is relatively cheap, highly conductive, has adequate mechanical strength and low density, and resists corrosion;
* A wide range of [[household]] items, from [[cooking utensil]]s to [[furniture]]. Low density, good appearance, ease of fabrication, and durability are the key factors of aluminium usage;
* Machinery and equipment (processing equipment, pipes, tools). Aluminium is used because of its corrosion resistance, non-[[pyrophoricity]], and mechanical strength.

===Compounds===
The great majority (about 90%) of [[aluminium oxide]] is converted to metallic aluminium.<ref name="UllmannOxide" /> Being a very hard material ([[Mohs hardness]] 9),<ref name="Lumley2010">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXpwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|title=Fundamentals of Aluminium Metallurgy: Production, Processing and Applications|last=Lumley|first=Roger|publisher=Elsevier Science|year=2010|isbn=978-0-85709-025-6|page=42|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222153110/https://books.google.com/books?id=mXpwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|url-status=live}}</ref> alumina is widely used as an abrasive;<ref name="Mortensen2006">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zs_lGeGsuaAC&pg=PA281|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Composite Materials|last=Mortensen|first=Andreas|publisher=Elsevier|year=2006|isbn=978-0-08-052462-7|page=281|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220232017/https://books.google.com/books?id=zs_lGeGsuaAC&pg=PA281|url-status=live}}</ref> being extraordinarily chemically inert, it is useful in highly reactive environments such as [[high pressure sodium]] lamps.<ref name="Japan2012">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8NNHruBKVQC&pg=PA541|title=Advanced Ceramic Technologies & Products|author=The Ceramic Society of Japan|year=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-4-431-54108-0|page=541|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=29 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129220847/https://books.google.com/books?id=y8NNHruBKVQC&pg=PA541|url-status=live}}</ref> Aluminium oxide is commonly used as a catalyst for industrial processes;<ref name="UllmannOxide" /> e.g. the [[Claus process]] to convert [[hydrogen sulfide]] to sulfur in [[refineries]] and to [[alkylation|alkylate]] [[amine]]s.<ref name="Slesser1988">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUOvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138|title=Dictionary of Energy|last=Slesser|first=Malcolm|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=1988|isbn=978-1-349-19476-6|page=138|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611060750/https://books.google.com/books?id=kUOvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Supp2013">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vi3wCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165|title=How to Produce Methanol from Coal|last=Supp|first=Emil|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2013|isbn=978-3-662-00895-9|pages=164–165|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226154639/https://books.google.com/books?id=vi3wCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165|url-status=live}}</ref> Many industrial [[Catalysis|catalysts]] are [[catalyst support|supported]] by alumina, meaning that the expensive [[Catalysis|catalyst]] material is dispersed over a surface of the inert alumina.<ref name="ErtlKnözinger2008">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ev47CMLmM2sC&pg=PA80|title=Preparation of Solid Catalysts|last1=Ertl|first1=Gerhard|last2=Knözinger|first2=Helmut|last3=Weitkamp|first3=Jens|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-3-527-62068-5|page=80|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=24 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224115243/https://books.google.com/books?id=ev47CMLmM2sC&pg=PA80|url-status=live}}</ref> Another principal use is as a drying agent or absorbent.<ref name="UllmannOxide" /><ref name="ArmaregoChai2009">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTXyS7Yj6zUC&pg=PA155|title=Purification of Laboratory Chemicals|last1=Armarego|first1=W.L.F.|last2=Chai|first2=Christina|year=2009|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|isbn=978-0-08-087824-9|pages=73, 109, 116, 155|access-date=13 July 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222155719/https://books.google.com/books?id=PTXyS7Yj6zUC&pg=PA155|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Pulsed Laser Deposition in Action.jpg|thumb|upright|Laser deposition of alumina on a substrate]]
Several sulfates of aluminium have industrial and commercial application. [[Aluminium sulfate]] (in its hydrate form) is produced on the annual scale of several millions of metric tons.<ref name="UllmannInorganic">{{cite book|title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|last=Helmboldt|first=O.|date=2007|publisher=[[Wiley-VCH]]|chapter=Aluminum Compounds, Inorganic|doi=10.1002/14356007.a01_527.pub2|title-link=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|pages=1–17 |isbn=978-3-527-30673-2}}</ref> About two-thirds is consumed in [[water treatment]].<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> The next major application is in the manufacture of paper.<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> It is also used as a mordant in dyeing, in pickling seeds, deodorizing of mineral oils, in [[Tanning (leather)|leather tanning]], and in production of other aluminium compounds.<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> Two kinds of alum, [[ammonium alum]] and [[potassium alum]], were formerly used as mordants and in leather tanning, but their use has significantly declined following availability of high-purity aluminium sulfate.<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> Anhydrous [[aluminium chloride]] is used as a catalyst in chemical and petrochemical industries, the dyeing industry, and in synthesis of various inorganic and organic compounds.<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> Aluminium hydroxychlorides are used in purifying water, in the paper industry, and as [[antiperspirants]].<ref name="UllmannInorganic" /> [[Sodium aluminate]] is used in treating water and as an accelerator of solidification of cement.<ref name="UllmannInorganic" />

Many aluminium compounds have niche applications, for example:
* [[Aluminium acetate]] in solution is used as an [[astringent]].<ref name="WHO Formulary 2008">{{cite book
|title=WHO Model Formulary 2008|year=2009|vauthors=((World Health Organization))|veditors=Stuart MC, Kouimtzi M, Hill SR
|isbn=9789241547659|hdl=10665/44053|author-link=World Health Organization|publisher=World Health Organization|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Aluminium phosphate]] is used in the manufacture of glass, ceramic, [[Wood pulp|pulp]] and paper products, [[cosmetics]], paints, [[varnish]]es, and in dental [[cement]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ueRsAAAAMAAJ&q=Aluminium+phosphate+used+in+the+manufacture+of+glass,+ceramic,+pulp+and+paper+products,+cosmetics,+paints,+varnishes,+and+in+dental+cement.|title=Occupational Skin Disease|date=1983|publisher=Grune & Stratton|isbn=978-0-8089-1494-5|language=en|access-date=14 June 2017|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415120754/https://books.google.com/books?id=ueRsAAAAMAAJ&q=Aluminium+phosphate+used+in+the+manufacture+of+glass,+ceramic,+pulp+and+paper+products,+cosmetics,+paints,+varnishes,+and+in+dental+cement.|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Aluminium hydroxide]] is used as an [[antacid]], and mordant; it is used also in [[water]] purification, the manufacture of glass and ceramics, and in the [[waterproofing]] of [[Textile|fabrics]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Fundamentals of pharmacology: a text for nurses and health professionals|author1=Galbraith, A|author2=Bullock, S|author3=Manias, E|author4=Hunt, B|author5=Richards, A|publisher=Pearson|year=1999|location=Harlow|pages=482}}</ref><ref name="papich">{{Cite book|title=Saunders Handbook of Veterinary Drugs|last=Papich|first=Mark G.|date=2007|publisher=Saunders/Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4160-2888-8|edition=2nd|location=St. Louis, Mo|pages=15–16|chapter=Aluminum Hydroxide and Aluminum Carbonate}}</ref>
* [[Lithium aluminium hydride]] is a powerful reducing agent used in [[organic chemistry]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Brown|first=Weldon G.|title=Reductions by Lithium Aluminum Hydride|date=15 March 2011|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/0471264180.or006.10|work=Organic Reactions|pages=469–510|editor-last=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|place=Hoboken, NJ, USA|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|language=en|doi=10.1002/0471264180.or006.10|isbn=978-0-471-26418-7|access-date=22 May 2021|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611060736/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/0471264180.or006.10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Lithium Aluminium Hydride|encyclopedia=SASOL Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology|publisher=New Africa Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wS3aWR5SO4C&pg=PA143|page=143|isbn=978-1-86928-384-1|author1=Gerrans, G.C.|author2=Hartmann-Petersen, P.|access-date=6 September 2017|archive-date=23 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823221511/https://books.google.com/books?id=1wS3aWR5SO4C&pg=PA143|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Organoaluminium chemistry|Organoaluminiums]] are used as [[Lewis acid]]s and co-catalysts.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=M. Witt|author2=H.W. Roesky|year=2000|title=Organoaluminum chemistry at the forefront of research and development|url=http://tejas.serc.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/feb252000/NMC2.pdf|journal=Curr. Sci.|volume=78|issue=4|pages=410|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006124655/http://tejas.serc.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/feb252000/NMC2.pdf|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
* [[Methylaluminoxane]] is a co-catalyst for [[Ziegler–Natta]] [[olefin]] [[polymerization]] to produce [[vinyl polymer]]s such as [[polyethene]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=A. Andresen|author2=H.G. Cordes|author3=J. Herwig|author4=W. Kaminsky|author5=A. Merck|author6=R. Mottweiler|author7=J. Pein|author8=H. Sinn|author9=H.J. Vollmer|year=1976|title=Halogen-free Soluble Ziegler-Catalysts for the Polymerization of Ethylene|journal=[[Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.]]|volume=15|issue=10|pages=630–632|doi=10.1002/anie.197606301}}</ref>
* Aqueous aluminium ions (such as aqueous aluminium sulfate) are used to treat against fish parasites such as ''[[Gyrodactylus salaris]]''.<ref name="AasKlemetsen2011">{{cite book|last1=Aas|first1=Øystein|last2=Klemetsen|first2=Anders|last3=Einum|first3=Sigurd|last4=Skurdal|first4=Jostein|display-authors=3|title=Atlantic Salmon Ecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lMZnUdUGZUC&pg=PA240|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-4819-4|page=240|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221202430/https://books.google.com/books?id=9lMZnUdUGZUC&pg=PA240|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In many [[vaccine]]s, certain aluminium salts serve as an immune [[Immunologic adjuvant|adjuvant]] (immune response booster) to allow the [[protein]] in the vaccine to achieve sufficient potency as an immune stimulant.<ref name="Singh2007">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Manmohan|title=Vaccine Adjuvants and Delivery Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QKRrTPwuDYC&pg=PA112|year=2007|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-13492-4|pages=81–109|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220055221/https://books.google.com/books?id=7QKRrTPwuDYC&pg=PA112|url-status=live}}</ref> Until 2004, most of the adjuvants used in vaccines were aluminium-adjuvanted.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindblad |first1=Erik B |title=Aluminium compounds for use in vaccines |journal=Immunology & Cell Biology |date=October 2004 |volume=82 |issue=5 |pages=497–505 |doi=10.1111/j.0818-9641.2004.01286.x|pmid=15479435 |s2cid=21284189 }}</ref>