Vanadium

What is vanadium?
Vanadium was originally discovered by the Mexican/Spanish mineralogist Andres Manuel del Río in 1801. He extracted the new element from a sample of lead ore and found salts formed a multitude of colors. His original name for this colorful element was panchromium, meaning all colors.
del Rio renamed his element 'erythronium' (Greek for 'red') because the crystals of vanadium would turn red upon heating.


Then, the French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils claimed del Río's element was actually chromium. del Río retracted his discovery claim. Finally, Swedish chemist Nils Sefström rediscovered the element in 1831 and named the element vanadium after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty Vanadis, putting an end to the disputes about who discovered the element.

But enough about the founders. Vanadium itself is actually a very interesting element. It is named after the Scandinavian goddess as mentioned above because as she was the goddess of beauty, the stones were very beautiful as they had multicolored compounds. However, pure vanadium is a soft, ductile bright white metal. Vanadium has good corrosion resistance to alkalis, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and saltwater, but it oxidizes readily at temperatures exceeding 660°C. The metal has good structural strength. Vanadium and all of its compounds are toxic and should be handled with great care.

What is it used for?
Vanadium is used for many things, such as in nuclear applications, for producing rust-resistant spring and high-speed tool steels, and as a carbide stabilizer in making steels. Just about 80% of the vanadium that is produced is used as a steel additive or ferrovanadium. Vanadium foil is used as a bonding agent for cladding steel with titanium. Vanadium pentoxide is used as a catalyst, as a mordant for dyeing and printing fabrics, in the manufacture of aniline black, and in the ceramics industry. Vanadium-gallium tape is used to produce superconducting magnets.

Where is it found?
Vanadium is found in the Earth's crust at 50 parts per million. It also occurs in approximately 65 minerals, including vanadinite, carnotite, patronite, and roscoelite. It is found in certain iron ores and phosphate rock and in some crude oils as organic complexes. Vanadium is found in small percentages in most meteorites, but not all. Vanadium metal also may be produced by calcium reduction of V2O5 in a pressure vessel.

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