Aluminium carbonate (Al₂(CO₃)₃), is a

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. It is not well characterized; one authority says that simple carbonates of aluminium are not known.Anthony John Downs, (1993), ''Chemistry of Aluminium, Gallium, Indium, and Thallium'', Springer, However related compounds are known, such as the basic sodium aluminium carbonate mineral

dawsonite Dawsonite is a mineral composed of sodium aluminium carbonate hydroxide, chemical formula NaAlCO3(OH)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. It is not mined for ore. It was discovered in 1874 during the construction of the Redpath ...

(NaAlCO₃(OH)₂) and hydrated basic aluminium carbonate minerals scarbroite (Al₅(CO₃)(OH)₁₃•5(H₂O)) and hydroscarbroite (Al₁₄(CO₃)₃(OH)₃₆•nH₂O).

Preparation

There is no evidence that aluminium carbonate is formed in double displacement reactions; soluble carbonates are sufficiently alkaline to precipitate

aluminium hydroxide Aluminium hydroxide, Al(OH)3, is found in nature as the mineral gibbsite (also known as hydrargillite) and its three much rarer polymorphs: bayerite, doyleite, and nordstrandite. Aluminium hydroxide is amphoteric, i.e., it has both basic ...

and produce

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

. Although aluminium carbonate is highly unstable, carbonate species readily form on the surface of aluminium oxide when exposed to .

Uses

Aluminium carbonate, along with

and aluminium oxide, is a

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

-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. The reaction of

aluminium sulfate Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the formula Al2 (SO4)3. It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking water and wastewater treatment plan ...

and

sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3− ...

forms carbon dioxide and aluminium hydroxide which stabilises the formation of a foam. This reaction was the basis of an early

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

invented by

Aleksandr Loran Aleksandr Grigoryevich Loran (russian: Александр Григорьевич Лоран) (1849 – presumably 1911), sometimes called Alexander Laurant or Aleksandr Lovan or Aleksandr Lavrentyev, was a Russian teacher and inventor of fire figh ...

in 1904.

References

{{Carbonates Aluminium compounds Carbonates