..... Click the link for more information. of a univalent cation (e.g., potassium, sodium, ammonium, cesium, or thallium) and a trivalent cation (e.g., aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, cobalt, or titanium). The name alum commonly refers to potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate, or potash alum, KAl(SO4)2·12H2O, a colorless-to-white, crystalline compound. It is used in water purification, leather tanning, mordant dyeing, as an astringent, and in baking powder; it occurs in nature as the mineral kalunite. Sodium aluminum sulfate, or soda alum, NaAl(SO4)2·12H2O, is also used in baking powder. Ammonium aluminum sulfate, or ammonia alum, NH4Al(SO4)2·12H2O, is used in tanning, in dyeing and fireproofing textiles, in vegetable glues and porcelain cements, and in water purification. Chromium potassium sulfate, or chrome alum, KCr(SO4)2·12H2O, is used as a mordant in dyeing, in tanning, and in photographic fixing baths to harden gelatin films and plates. Aluminum sulfate, Al2(SO4)3·18H2O, is also called alum. A pseudoalum is a double sulfate salt of a divalent cation (e.g., magnesium or calcium) and a trivalent cation (e.g., aluminum).
alum
Inorganic compound, any of a class of hydrated double salts, usually consisting of aluminum sulfate, water of hydration (an essential part of the crystal makeup), and the sulfate of another element. The most important alums are those of potassium sulfate (potassium alum, or potash alum, K2SO4∙Al2(SO4)3∙24H2O), ammonium sulfate, and sodium sulfate. Alums occur naturally in various minerals and can be prepared and purified by crystallization from their solutions. Most are white crystals with an astringent, acid taste. They are used as paper-sizing agents, flocculating agents in water treatment, mordants in dyeing, and in pickles, baking powder, fire extinguishers, and medicines.
alum
alum [′al·əm]
Alum
salts of the general formula
or
MeI MeIII (SO4)2 · 12H2O
where MeI is a univalent cation (for example, Na+, K+, NH4+) and MeIII, a trivalent cation (Al3+, Cr3+, Fe3+). In other words, alum is the crystalline hydrate of double sulfates. All types of alum have a sour, astringent taste (hence the Russian kvastsy, from the old Slavic kysati, “to turn sour,” 15th century). Alums are complex compounds of the double salt type, so that the formula is often written MeI [MeIII (SO4)2]·12H2O.
Alum is completely stable under normal conditions. When heated it loses its water of crystallization and is converted to a compound known as burnt alum. Alum is readily soluble in water and undergoes nearly complete dissociation into simple ions in weak aqueous solutions. Alum can be obtained by mixing hot aqueous solutions containing equimolar quantities of univalent and trivalent metal sulfates. The alum crystals precipitate upon cooling.
Alum serves as a tanning agent in the leather and photographic industries and also as a mordant in dyeing textiles. The most widely used types of alum are potash alum, K2SO4·AL2-(SO4)3·24H2O; chrome alum, K2SO4·Cr2(SO4)3·24H2O; and ammonium ferric alum, (NH4)2SO4·Fe2(SO4)3·24H2O.
In medicine, potash alum is used externally as a styptic and cauterizing agent (styptic pencils), and as an astringent in mouthwashes, irrigants, lotions, and douches. Burnt alum is used as an astringent and also as a dessicant in dusting powders.
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