variations between their precipitation conditions. In 1932 Dobbins and Sanders described the formation of lithium aluminate by the addition of dilute ammonia to a solution containing lithium and aluminum salt, in the presence of phelphtalein as an indicator. In their preparation of acid lithium aluminate they dissolved strips of amalgamated aluminum in normal and tenth normal solutions of lithium hydroxide. The lithium aluminate was precipitated by the addition of a solution of lithium hydroxide to a solution of aluminum salts, or by adding a solution of lithium salt to a solution of alkaline aluminate. In all cases the composition of the compound of lithium aluminate was expressed by the formula: They claimed that the formed compound contained lithium and aluminum in the atomic ratio of 2Li:5Al. Their chemical formula was simplified into the modern formulation for lithium aluminate: Fields of interest The fundamental compound of lithium aluminate has found attention in two different fields: nuclear physics and solid-state chemistry. At least five different phases of lithium aluminate have been found. The lithium aluminate crystal structure may be found in either α, β, or γ phases. Nuclear physicists are interested in the modification of lithium aluminate, because of its good performance under high neutron and electron radiation. This modification also exhibits the essential chemical, thermo physical and mechanical stability at high temperature along with the required irradiation behavior. This phase appears to be a promising lithium ceramic, suitable as an in site tritium breeding material in future fusion reactors. Solid-state chemists investigating preparational routes to lithium aluminate discovered its interesting acid-base chemistry. The modification (but neither or ) reacts with molten benzoic acid leading to nearly total proton exchange thus forming There is a lot of interest in the chemical reactivity among the three modifications of . The reasons for the modification being highly reactive and the or modifications being totally unreactive is currently a mystery. Formation Early methods Lithium aluminate powder preparation was based on the solid-state reactions between and lithium-containing compounds like , LiOH, , LiAc, and reactions occurred at temperatures between 400Deg C to 1000 Deg C. Due to the evaporation of lithium at high temperatures and contamination from grinding operations, pure lithium aluminate with controlled particle size has been difficult to synthesize. Current methods Synthesis of lithium aluminate has been essentially performed by several methods: in the solid state, by wet chemical, sol-gel, with the use of