Synthesis of α-Al2O3 from aluminum cans by wet-chemical methods

Chemical synthesis results in the most convenient route to produce ceramics particles. In this paper, the synthesis of alpha-Al2O3 from aluminum cans is reported. Two approaches were considered for synthesis of alpha-Al2O3, the first route proposed was the precipitation of aluminum chloride with NaOH for producing aluminum hydroxide. The second methodology consist of dissolving aluminum flakes with glacial acetic acid to produce aluminum acetate. The XRD analysis demonstrate that alumina powders are obtained from heat treatment of aluminum acetate at relative low temperature (1100 degrees C), and at 1180 degrees C when starting from aluminum hydroxide. The methodology has the capability to produce nanophase alumina powder, the average crystal size was 58-54 nm for alumina derived from hydroxide and aluminum acetate, respectively. Therefore, the use of this precursors simplifies the process and provides another alternative for synthesis of crystalline alumina.