There is provided a process for purifying aluminum ions comprising: reacting an aluminum-containing material with an acid so as to obtain a composition comprising aluminum ions; precipitating said aluminum ions in the form of AlCl.sub.3; optionally converting AlCl.sub.3 into Al(OH).sub.3; and heating said AlCl.sub.3 or said Al(OH).sub.3 under conditions effective for converting AlCl.sub.3 or Al(OH).sub.3 into Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and optionally recovering gaseous HCl so-produced. Aluminum ions so purified are thus useful for preparing various types of alumina.

A method for lowering the sodium content of different carriers which may have different physical properties as well as varying degrees of sodium is provided. The method, which lowers the sodium content from the surface, subsurface as well as the binding layer of the carrier, includes contacting a carrier with water. A rinse solution is recovered from the contacting. The rinse solution includes leached sodium from the carrier. The sodium content in the rinse solution is then determined. The contacting, recovering and determining are repeated until a steady state in the sodium content is achieved.

A method for lowering the sodium content of different carriers which may have different physical properties as well as varying degrees of sodium is provided. The method, which lowers the sodium content from the surface, subsurface as well as the binding layer of the carrier, includes contacting a carrier with water. A rinse solution is recovered from the contacting. The rinse solution includes leached sodium from the carrier. The sodium content in the rinse solution is then determined. The contacting, recovering and determining are repeated until a steady state in the sodium content is achieved.

A method of producing new hydrophobic aluminas by i) providing a slurry comprising an alumina compound, the slurry having a pH of above 5.5; ii) mixing an organic composition comprising carboxylic acids with long hydrocarbon chains with the slurry to form an acid modified slurry; iii) hydrothermally conditioning the acid modified slurry to form a hydrothermally aged slurry; and iv) drying the hydrothermally aged slurry.

The new hydrophobic aluminas have surface modified structures distinguished by a low humidity content and very small nanoparticles. These new hydrophobic aluminas can be uniformly dispersed in a substrate, for example polymers.

A method of producing high strength shaped alumina by feeding alumina power into an agglomerator having a shaft with mixers able to displace the alumina power along the shaft, spraying a liquid binder onto the alumina power as it is displaced along the shaft to form a shaped alumina, and calcining the shaped alumina. The shaped alumina produced having a loose bulk density of greater than or equal to 1.20 g/ml, a surface area less than 10 m.sup.2/g, impurities of less than 5 ppm of individual metals and less than 9 ppm of impurities in total, and/or crush strength of greater than 12,000 psi.

Methods and systems are provided for an electrode active material for lithium ion batteries. In one example, the electrode active material may include a lithium mixed metal oxide core and flame-retardant dusting particles partially retained within a surface of the core. In some examples, the dusting particles may have an average size of less than 20 μm. In some examples, the amount of dusting particles by weight may be greater than 0.1% of the core particles and less than 50% of the core particles. In another example, methods are provided for manufacturing the electrode active material for use in a lithium ion battery, where lithium metal composite core particles may be mixed with the flame-retardant dusting particles in a dry process.

Methods and systems are provided for an electrode active material for lithium ion batteries. In one example, the electrode active material may include a lithium mixed metal oxide core and flame-retardant dusting particles partially retained within a surface of the core. In some examples, the dusting particles may have an average size of less than 20 μm. In some examples, the amount of dusting particles by weight may be greater than 0.1% of the core particles and less than 50% of the core particles. In another example, methods are provided for manufacturing the electrode active material for use in a lithium ion battery, where lithium metal composite core particles may be mixed with the flame-retardant dusting particles in a dry process.

A thermal sensing bulb (102) for an expansion valve (104) in a refrigerant system, the bulb containing a ballast material (108), the ballast material including alumina. More particularly, the ballast material (108) includes alpha alumina, which may be in the form of a plurality of discrete particles having a desired surface area, particle size, and/or particle size distribution.

A thermal sensing bulb (102) for an expansion valve (104) in a refrigerant system, the bulb containing a ballast material (108), the ballast material including alumina. More particularly, the ballast material (108) includes alpha alumina, which may be in the form of a plurality of discrete particles having a desired surface area, particle size, and/or particle size distribution.

A co-assembly method for synthesizing inverse photonic structures is described. The method includes combining an onium compound with a sol-gel precursor to form metal oxide (MO) nanocrystals, where each MO nanocrystal has crystalline and amorphous content. The MO nanocrystals are combined with templating particles to form a suspension. A solvent is evaporated from the suspension to form an intermediate or compound product, which then undergoes calcination to produce an inverse structure.