The activation mechanism of oxalic acid on γ-alumina and the formation of α-alumina

Converting the γ phase into the α phase completely is necessary in the presintering stage of industrial alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), which requires high temperature and energy consumption. To reduce the presintering temperature, γ-Al 2 O 3 was activated by oxalic acid . XRD , 27 Al-MAS-NMR and TG-DSC were used to characterize the γ - alumina before and after activation, and the phase transformation was studied. The formation temperature of α-Al 2 O 3 decreased to 1029 °C for oxalic acid activated γ-Al 2 O 3 , and the α-fraction was 100% for activated γ-Al 2 O 3 at 1300 °C. After oxalic acid activation , the diffraction peak intensity of γ-Al 2 O 3 decreased significantly; the results of 27 Al-MAS-NMR suggested that octahedral [AlO 6 ] in γ-Al 2 O 3 was easier than tetrahedral [AlO 4 ] to be attacked by oxalic acid , and the formation of pentavalent [AlO 5 ] with higher reaction activity, which was in favour of the lowering formation temperature of α-Al 2 O 3 . The dissolution concentration of Al increased after oxalic acid activation, and the dissolution process was controlled by surface reactions. Oxalic acid mainly attacked the octahedral aluminium in γ-Al 2 O 3 and extracted Al as three complexes of [Al(C 2 O 4 )] + , [Al(C 2 O 4 ) 2 ] - and [Al(C 2 O 4 ) 3 ] 3- . Oxalic acid activated γ - Al 2 O 3 with a lower phase transformation temperature has broad application prospects in the alumina industry.