Aluminum (Al) is a very lightweight metal, a very good conductor of electric current, is widely used in electrical engineering, and in the aerospace and automotive industries in the form of alloys. Other features of aluminum include excellent malleability while maintaining sufficient strength, good weldability, high corrosion resistance, very good electrical and thermal conductivity, and no less important are its antistatic properties, and the fact that it is a non-magnetic material and can be recycled. In nature it occurs in the form of compounds. The most well-known of these is bauxite.
Although aluminum is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, producing it on an industrial scale was still a very difficult process not too long ago. The ability to control the industrial electrolysis of molten metal ores has currently enabled the annual production of many hundreds of tons of pure aluminum. The electrolysis of a mixture of purified bauxite and cryolite, which takes place at a temperature of 950°C, leads to the separation of pure aluminum on the cathode and oxygen on the graphite anode.
In industry, aluminum is most often used in the form of alloys. The most well-known of these is an alloy of copper and magnesium called duralumin. Compared to pure aluminum, duralumin is up to five times stronger in tension and harder, all the while remaining lightweight.
Aluminum is very important for mankind and a nearly irreplaceable metal today, one that is used in almost all areas of human activity.