Abstract
The purity of aluminium from the normal reduotion process is limited by the impurities in all the raw materials used. Metal containing 99.9% aluminium and only 0.05% silioon and 0.03% iron, with traces of other impurities, can be obtained from seleoted raw materials, but the purity is normally in the range 99.5–99.8% aluminium. To reach 99.99% aluminium a refining process must be used. The element is so reactive and has such a high boiling point that it cannot be refined by the methods applied to many other metals, such as controlled oxidation of impurities, aqueous electrolysis, and distillation. Refining on the commercial scale has been successfully carried out only with the aid of molten-salt electrolytes operating above the melting point of aluminium.
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