cryolite introduction

Cryolite and six fluoride and sodium aluminate and sodium aluminum fluoride, formula for Na3AlF6, white tiny crystals, no smell, solubility, larger than the natural cryolite ratio is 3, 2 ~ 3 hardness, melting point 1009 degrees Celsius, easy water be affected with damp be affected with damp.
Cryolite is mainly used as the flux of aluminum electrolysis, the wear-resisting filler of rubber and grinding wheel, enamel emulsion, glass sunscreen and metal flux, pesticide of crops, etc.
The Hall - Heroult method is a method of producing metallic aluminum by using a fluoride melt as a base of cryolite. So far, no other compound has been found to replace the cryolite.
This is because the cryolite besides can dissolve the alumina also has some other indispensable properties, such as excluding than aluminum correction electrical elements, good stability, under the condition of the general decomposition, non-volatile, deliquescence, melting point higher than that of aluminum, good conductivity, electricity saving, etc.
It can be said that without cryolite, the world may not have such a large-scale aluminum industry, and the price is not so low, and the application is not so widespread.
The west coast of Greenland is the main source of cryolite, which was mined in 1987.
At present, fluorite is used to synthesize sodium hexafluoroaluminate for industrial use.

Spain, Russia and the United States also have output.