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realizes that alum (a natural aluminum compound used for dying textiles since ancient times) contains an unknown metal. It's aluminum,but he doesn't know that.
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turns aluminum oxide into aluminum chloride and then uses potassium to turn the chloride into pure aluminum. Unfortunately, he cannot repeat the trick a second time!
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uses sodium to separate out aluminum. Since sodium is cheaper and easier to obtain than potassium. He puts this on display at a public exhibition in Paris, France. Deville's new method means aluminum starts to become more widely available and the price begins to fall.
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discover the modern method of splitting aluminum oxide with electrolysis to make pure aluminum. Their highly efficient technique, known as the Hall-Héroult process, is still used to produce most of the world's aluminum today.
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finds a less expensive way of turning bauxite into aluminum oxide—the raw material needed for the Hall-Héroult process. Together, the Bayer and Hall-Héroult processes drastically reduce the price of aluminum, enabling the metal to be used in much greater quantities.
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foil first produced.
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officially changes the name from "aluminium" to "aluminum" in the United States.
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