What is aluminum oxide?
Aluminum oxide is a fairly inert and non-toxic chemical. It is frequently used in place of the hardness of diamonds, since aluminum oxide is a very hard material. On Mohs scale of hardness, diamonds are a 10, while aluminum oxide closely follows with a hardness of 9. This means that aluminum oxide is resilient against other materials that have a lower hardness, making it ideal as a sandpaper for material that is lower on the hardness scale.
Aluminum oxide because of its inert properties and hardness can be used for a range of purposes, including:
- Filler in plastics or sunscreen
- Removing water from gas streams
- Catalyst for other coversion processes, such as dehydrating alcholos to alkene
- Crystals for sandpaper
- Wood flooring pre-finish
