Appearance White, Amorphous | ||
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Aluminium carbonate (Al2(CO3)3), is a carbonate of aluminium. It is not well characterized; one authority says that simple carbonates of aluminium, gallium and indium are not known. Basic aluminium carbonate, the mineral dawsonite, is a known compound.
Preparation
There is no evidence that aluminium carbonate is formed in double decomposition reactions; soluble carbonates are sufficiently alkaline to precipitate aluminium hydroxide and produce carbon dioxide. The reaction of aluminium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate forms carbon dioxide and aluminum hydroxide which stabilises the formation of a foam. This reaction was the basis of an early fire extinguisher invented by Aleksandr Loran in 1904.
References
Aluminium carbonate Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA