Abrasives

Synthetic Cryolite

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Similar term(s): sodium aluminum fluoride, sodium fluoaluminate, sodium fluoroaluminate, sodium hexafluoroaluminate, trisodium hexafluoroaluminate, sodium aluminofluoride, aluminum sodium fluoride, kryolith, kryocide, cryolite, ice spar.

(Na3AlF6). Synthetic cryolite is a white crystalline powder manufactured from hydrofluoric acid, sodium carbonate, and aluminium. Synthetic cryolite is used chiefly as a flux in the electrolytic production of aluminum as it effectively lowers down the melting point of alumina. It is used in the glass and enamel industries, in bonded abrasives as a filler, in making salts of sodium and aluminum and porcelaneous glass and in the manufacture of insecticides. Cryolite is a relatively safe fruit and vegetable insecticide. The fluoride ion inhibits many enzymes that contain iron, calcium, and magnesium.