Does adding NH3 to an HCl solution facilitate the dissolution of aluminum compounds? If we compare the two solutions hereafter, which one would better leach/dissolve aluminum metal/compounds present at/near the inner surface of the glass:
Solution A: $10\,\%\, \ce{HCl + H2O}$
Solution B: $10\,\%\,\ce{HCl + 1\% NH4OH + H2O}$
I'm asking because I'm looking for a solution to leach away aluminum (and other lesser trace metal ions) from the surface of borosilicate glass such that it won't contaminate puriss solutions in the glassware, and one suggestion was to use &quot;salmi&quot; (which I believe is $\ce{NH4Cl}$), so I'm now wondering if $\ce{NH3}$ in solution somehow facilitates the &quot;grabbing&quot; / solubility of aluminum in an $\ce{HCl}$ solution.
Aluminum metal is attacked by $\ce{HCl}$ solutions. But adding $\ce{NH3}$ or $\ce{NH4Cl}$ has no effect on aluminum reactions.
The same thing can be said for aluminum compounds. Adding ammonia or ammonium compounds is not recommended, because it does not help. Aluminum does not make complexes with ammonia or ammonium salts.
But I suspect this addition of ammonia or of ammonium compounds may have another effect. It may help dissolution of other metals if they are deposited on the glass together with aluminum, making complexes containing the metal and ammonia.