Review article
Metallurgy development: Discovery and utilization of aluminum through history
Franjo Kozina
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Metallurgy
Zdenka Zovko Brodarac
orcid.org/0000-0002-7892-2633
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Metallurgy
Abstract
Since the early human civilizations, the discovery and use of new materials and the development of new technologies have changed culture and influenced the development of the modern human environment. At the same time, innovations based on scientific discoveries and technological advances are connected to increasingly complex social and political structures and international relations, which have an impact on economic growth and social benefits. Unfortunately, the human capacity for technological and strategic innovation has most often been demonstrated under stressful conditions inspiring the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention”. The goal of this review is to examine the necessity that compelled mankind to search for metals, primarily focusing on the discovery of aluminum and the challenges represented by the complex nature of its minerals. Although men’s first contact with metal initiated with native copper and meteoritic iron, bronz was the first metallic material significantly impacting human society. The experiments with its chemical composition led to the development of metallurgical processes such as smelting, refining, and casting as well as mechanisms of economics and communication. The accidental discovery of iron in the process of copper ore refining gave mankind greater control over its environment, resulting in increased population and expanded settlements. Aluminum, as a brilliant white metal, was introduced to the world through the works of Wöhler and Deville. However, it became commercially available after electrolysis was discovered by Charles Martin Hall on February 23rd 1886 in a woodshed using home-made battery. A few months later, the similar results were obtained by Paul Louis Toussaint Héroult, so the process for electrolytic production of aluminum bears both of their names. As a symbol of modernity aluminum is used today in the automotive, aerospace, railway, marine, electric, and architectural applications. At the end of this work, it is superfluous to ask whether humanity would have been able to explore the universe and reach the stars if it had been restricted by stone, bones and wood.
Keywords
history of metallurgy, human society, aluminum
Hrčak ID:
302300
URI
Publication date:
16.5.2023.
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