Preparation and Standardisation of Alumina

Preparation and Standardisation of Alumina. The activity of alumina depends inversely on its water content, and a sample of poorly active material can be rendered more active by leaving for some time in a round bottomed flask heated up to about 200° in an oil bath or a heating mantle while a slow stream of a dry inert gas is passed through it. Alternatively, it is heated to red heat (380-400°) in an open vessel for 4-6h with 

Used alumina can be regenerated by repeated extraction, first with boiling methanol, then with boiling water, followed by drying and heating. The degree of activity of the material can be expressed conveniently in terms of the scale due to Brockmann and Schodder (Chem Ber B 74 73 1941). 

Alumina used in TLC can be recovered by washing in ethanol for 48h with occasional stirring, to remove binder material and then washed with successive portions of ethyl acetate, acetone and finally with distilled water. Fine particles are removed by siphoning. The alumina is first suspended in 0.04M acetic acid, then in distilled water, siphoning off 30 minutes after each wash. The process is repeated 7-8 times. It is then dried and activated at 200° [Vogh and Thomson Anal Chem 53 1365 1981], 

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