Amphoteric oxide
oxide compound which can function as either acid or base / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amphoteric oxides are oxides which have properties of both acidic and basic oxides.[1] The property is known as amphoterism. Generally non-metallic oxides are acidic and metallic oxides are basic. Some non-metallic oxides are neutral and some metallic and semi-metallic oxides are amphoteric.
As these oxides can act as either an acid or a base, they can neutralize both acids and bases. For example, aluminium oxide (Al2O3) reacts with hydrochloric acid to form aluminium chloride and water. With sodium hydroxide solution it reacts into sodium aluminate (NaAlO2) and water.