![]() Facilities in the electric power industry generate the largest amount of cobalt in this manner when they burn fuels at their power plants, they release cobalt.Īdditionally, production and utilization of cobalt-containing substances also results in an emission of cobalt to the environment. However, due to the decline in copper and nickel prices, mining facilities have struggled, prompting a net reduction in by-product cobalt production.Ĭobalt can also enter the environment through the burning of coal and oil. During nickel smelting, electrolytic refining facilitates the cobalt recovery process by precipitating it from the solution–typically in the form of cobaltic hydroxide. This oxidized metal, once treated by an electric furnace, gets reduced with carbon and forms a copper-iron-cobalt alloy. In the case of copper, any cobalt contained in this metal and smelted along with it gets oxidized. This element can result as a by-product of the mining process for both copper and nickel. We can also access the element cobalt through other methods. Miners tend to locate these ores in a variety of locations, including China, Russia, Australia, Finland, Azerbaijan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The most common cobalt-sourcing ores include cobaltite, erythrite, skutterudite, and glaucodot. Researchers do not encounter cobalt as a free metal in the environment they typically find it in the form of ores. Conversely, the alpha form dominates above these temperatures until the element’s melting point, at 1490☌, or 2720☏. Although both allotropes are stable under normal conditions, the beta form dominates under temperatures of approximately 400☌, or 750☏. The alpha form, or α-form, exists as a cubic crystal. The beta form, or β-form, of cobalt assumes a closely-packed, hexagonal, crystalline structure. The transformation between these states occurs at a very slow pace, which prompts variance in the observed physical properties of this element. Generally, the element cobalt exists as a mixture of two allotropes over a wide temperature range. Cobalt has an electronegativity of 1.88 Allotropes of Cobalt The electron configuration of the cobalt atom is 3d 74s 2. It’s an essential trace element in the body, and like iron it can be magnetized. It shares some physical and chemical properties with nickel. It is a silver-grey transition metal that lies to the right of iron, to the left of nickel, and above rhodium in the periodic table. The Element Cobalt in the Periodic TableĬobalt has atomic symbol Co, and atomic number 27. Nearly a third of annually-produced cobalt funnels to the ceramic and paint industries. The term “spin” describes the angular momentum electrons exhibit as they travel around the nucleus.ġ0. In 2010, when German researchers captured the first-ever images of changing “spins” in an atom, they utilized cobalt. The European Union considers cobalt a “critical raw material” because few places exist in which cobalt can be mined in large quantities, and it also has extremely high demand.ĩ. The cobalt isotope Co-60 is key to the production of gamma rays, which can be used to treat cancer and also sterilize medical supplies.Ĩ. The oldest cobalt-colored glass, discovered in Egypt, dates back to nearly 1550 BCE.ħ. Cobalt phosphate can generate a violet color, and cobalt green results from combining cobalt oxides and zinc oxides.Ħ. Cobalt compounds can create many pigments, not just cobalt blue. The scientist responsible, Georg Brandt, became the first recorded metal discoverer in history.ĥ. The element cobalt was the first metal to be discovered that was not an “ancient metal” like copper or gold. Cobalt’s dominant current application is its function in lithium-ion batteries.Ĥ. It comprises the backbone of vitamin B12, which facilitates blood formation and nervous system functioning, among other important things.ģ. ![]()
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