A team of scientists at King's College London has identified a new form of aluminum, one of the most abundant metals on Earth, that could offer a far less expensive and more sustainable alternative to widely used rare earth metals. Led by Dr. Clare Bakewell, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, the researchers created highly reactive aluminum molecules capable of breaking some of the strongest chemical bonds. Their findings, published in Nature Communications , also reveal entirely new molecular structures, opening the door to previously unknown types of chemical behavior. Discovery of a Unique Aluminum Structure The researchers reported the first known example of a cyclotrialumane, a compound made of three aluminum atoms arranged in a trimeric -- triangular -- structure. This unusual configuration shows remarkable reactivity. Importantly, the structure remains intact even when dissolved in different solutions, giving it the stability needed for a variety of chemical reactions.…