if aluminum chloride is mixed in with hydrochloric acid, how can you recover it?
Slowly and carefully boil away the HCl and carefully heat to tryness.
To recover aluminum chloride from a mixture with hydrochloric acid, you can follow the process of precipitation. Here's how you can do it:
1. Prepare a suitable precipitating agent: In this case, you can use sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a precipitating agent. Dissolve sodium hydroxide in water to prepare a saturated solution.
2. Add the precipitating agent: Slowly add the sodium hydroxide solution to the mixture of aluminum chloride and hydrochloric acid while stirring continuously. The reaction between aluminum chloride and sodium hydroxide will produce aluminum hydroxide as a precipitate.
AlCl3 + 3NaOH → Al(OH)3 + 3NaCl
3. Allow the precipitate to settle: After the addition of sodium hydroxide, let the mixture sit undisturbed for some time. The aluminum hydroxide will settle at the bottom of the container.
4. Separate the precipitate: Once the precipitate has settled, carefully decant (pour off) the clear liquid on top, which is the hydrochloric acid solution. The settled precipitate, containing aluminum hydroxide, can be collected.
5. Wash and dry the precipitate: Wash the collected precipitate thoroughly with distilled water to remove any remaining impurities. Then, allow the washed precipitate to dry. This can be done by placing it in a desiccator or using gentle heating.
6. Convert aluminum hydroxide to aluminum chloride: Finally, to obtain aluminum chloride, heat the dried precipitate of aluminum hydroxide strongly in a crucible. This will decompose the hydroxide and result in the formation of aluminum chloride.
Al(OH)3 → AlCl3 + 3H2O
Make sure to handle the chemicals involved with caution, following appropriate safety protocols and local regulations.