Submitted by

Name : .............................................
Reg.No : ............................................
Class : ............................................
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that ......................................................................... ,

Reg. No. ......................... . of class XII – B of PM SHRI

THANTHAI PERIYAR GOVT HR SEC SCHOOL KOVILPATHU-

KARAIKAL has successfully completed his / her project report in

chemistry on the topic “Preparation of Potash alum from scrap

Aluminium” for the partial fulfillment of AISSCE as prescribed by the

CBSE in the year 2024 - 2025.

Viva voce held on :

Registration No :

Signature of the Signature of the

Guide Teacher principal

Signature of the Signature of the

Internal Examiner External Examiner
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the outset, I express our gratitude to the Almighty

Lord for the divine guidance and wisdom showered on me to

undertake this project.

I am immensely grateful to my beloved Principal for

his/her involvement in this project by providing useful inputs

and timely suggestions.

I am also thankful to my Chemistry teacher

for his/her guidance and help to make this project a

success.

My Parents also played a key role in shaping up this project

nicely and I convey my special thanks to them as well.

 CONTENTS

AIM OF THE PROJECT

INTRODUCTION

USES

THEORY

CHEMICAL EQUQTIONS

REQUIREMENTS

PROCEDURE

OBSERVATIONS

RESULT

BIBLIOGRAPHY
AIM :
To prepare potash alum from aluminium scrap

INTRODUCTION :

 Aluminium because of its low density, high tensile strength and resistance to
corrosion, it is widely used for the manufacture of aeroplanes, automobiles,
lawn furniture as well as for aluminium cans.

 Being good conductor of electricity it is used for transmission of electricity.

 Aluminium is also used for making utensils. The recycling of aluminium cans
and other aluminium products is a very positive contribution to save our
natural resources.
 Most of the recycled aluminium is melted and recast into other aluminium
metal products or used in the production of various aluminium compounds,
the most common of which are the alums. Alums are double sulphates having
the general formula

X2SO4.M2(SO4)3.24H2O

Where,

X : Monovalent cation

M : Trivalent metal

 Some important alums and their names are given below:

K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O - Potash Alum

Na2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O - Soda Alum

K2SO4.Cr2(SO4)3.24H2O - Chrome Alum

(NH4)2SO4.Fe2(SO4)3.24H2O - Ferric Alum

USES :

 Potash alum is used in papermaking, in fire extinguishers, in food stuffs and in

purification of water. Soda alum is used in baking powders and chrome alum
is used in tanning leather and water proofing fabrics.

 In addition to these primary uses, alum is also used as follows :

An astringent :
A substance or preparation, that draws together or consricts body tissues
and is effective in stopping the flow of blood or other secretions. Alum has
also been used by conventional haridressers for treating shaving cuts.
A mordant :
Substances used in dyeing to fix certain dyes on cloth. Either the mordant

(if it is colloidal) or a colloid produced by the mordant adheres to the

fibre, attracting and fixing the colloidal mordant dye. The insoluble,
coloured precipitate that is formed is called a lake. Alum is a basic
mordant used for fixing acid dyes.

For the removal of phosphate from natural and waste waters :

The aluminium ions of alum combine with the orthophosphate around
pH 6 to form the solid aluminium hydroxyphosphate which is
precipitated.
For fireproofing fabrics:
The major use of alums are based on two important properties, namely
precipitation of Al(OH)3 and those related to the acidity created by the
production of hydrogen ions.

Al(H2O)6 3+ Al(OH)3 +3H2O + 3H+

The H+ ions generated are used for reacting with sodium bicarbonate to
release CO2. This property is made use of in baking powder and CO2 fire
extinguishers.
THEORY :

 Aluminum metal is treated with hot aqueous KOH solution. Aluminium

dissolves as potassium aluminate salt, KAl(OH)4.

2Al(s) + 2KOH(aq) + 6H2O(l) 2KAl(OH)4 (aq) + 3H2

 Potassium aluminate solution on treatment with dil. sulphuric acid first gives

a precipitate of Al(OH)3, which dissolves on addition of small excess of H2SO4

followed by heating.

2KOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) 2Al(OH)3(s) + K2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

2Al(OH)3(s) + 3 H2SO4(aq) Al2(SO4)3(aq) +6H2O(l)

 The resulting solution is concentrated to near saturation and cooled. On

cooling, crystals of potash alum crystallize out.

K2SO4(aq) + Al2(SO4)3(aq) + 24H2O(l) K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3. 24H2O

CHEMICAL EQUATIONS :

2Al(s) + 2KOH(aq) + 6H2O(l) 2KAl(OH)4 (aq) + 3H2

K2SO4(aq) + Al2(SO4)3(aq) + 24H2O(l) K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3. 24H2O

2Al(OH)3(s) + 3 H2SO4(aq) Al2(SO4)3(aq) +6H2O(l)

2KOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) 2Al(OH)3(s) + K2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

K2SO4(aq) + Al2(SO4)3(aq) + 24H2O(l) K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3. 24H2O

REQUIREMENTS :

 250 ml flask

 Funnel

 Beaker

 Scrap aluminium or cola can

 Potassium hydroxide solution (KOH)

 6 M Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4)

 Water Bath

 Ethanol

PROCEDURE :

 Clean a small piece of scrap aluminium with steel wool and cut it into very small

pieces. Aluminium foil may be taken instead of scrap aluminium.

 Put the small pieces of scrap aluminium or aluminium foil(about 1.00g) into a

conical flask and add about 50 ml of 4 M KOH solution to dissolve the

aluminium.

 The flask may be heated gently in order to facilitate dissolution. Since during

this step hydrogen gas is evolved this step must be done in a well ventilated

area.

 Continue heating until all of the aluminium reacts.

 Filter the solution to remove any insoluble impurities and reduce the volume to

about 25 ml by heating.
 Allow the filtrate to cool. Now add slowly 6 M H2SO4 until insoluble Al(OH)3 just

forms in the solution.

 Gently heat the mixture until the Al(OH)3 precipitate dissolves.

 Cool the resulting solution in an ice-bath for about 30 minutes whereby alum

crystals should separate out. For better results the solution may be left overnight

for crystallization to continue.

 In case crystals do not form, the solution may be further concentrated and

cooled again.

 Filter the crystals from the solution using vacuum pump, wash the crystals

with 50/50 ethanol-water mixture.

 Continue applying the vacuum until the crystals appear dry.

 Determine the mass of alum crystals.

OBSERVATIONS :

Mass of aluminium metal = 2.39 g

Mass of potash alum = 4.63 g

Theoretical yield of potash alum = 5.43 g

Percent yield = 85.08 %

RESULT :

Potash alum was prepared from aluminium scrap.

 BIBILIOGRAPHY

https://www.scribd.com/

NCERT lab manual for class 12

https://www.slideshare.net/

https://www.wikipedia.org/

https://www.youtube.com/

https://ictsciencerekha.blogspot.com/