What is cobalt metal

The only stable isotope of cobalt is Co But radioactive cobalt can occur naturally, too. In August , a team of astrophysicists reported the discovery of cobalt in supernova SNJ, an exploding star 11 million light-years from Earth. The supernova emitted about 60 percent of the sun's mass in cobalt, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.

The isotope has a half-life of 77 days and gradually decays into iron Though still used in pigments, cobalt plays a variety of roles in modern technology. In September , researchers in Denmark reported that they'd created a crystalline material that can draw oxygen from air, store it, and then release it as needed.

Just 2. Just as iron is an essential ingredient in hemoglobin, the blood protein that snags oxygen from the lungs, cobalt is a key portion of this new material. If oxygen-slurping cobalt weren't odd enough, a group of American researchers are working to integrate the metal into the food-safety process. Today, foods are tested for dangerous bacteria with a labor-intensive process that involves taking a sample, isolating and culturing any bacteria and waiting for them to grow. During this time, the batch of food being tested has to sit on the shelf — a particularly big problem for fresh fruits and vegetables.

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Jump to main content. Periodic Table. Glossary Allotropes Some elements exist in several different structural forms, called allotropes. Discovery date Discovered by Georg Brandt Origin of the name The name is derived from the German word 'kobald', meaning goblin. Glossary Group A vertical column in the periodic table. Fact box. Glossary Image explanation Murray Robertson is the artist behind the images which make up Visual Elements. Appearance The description of the element in its natural form.

Biological role The role of the element in humans, animals and plants. Natural abundance Where the element is most commonly found in nature, and how it is sourced commercially. Uses and properties. Image explanation. In the background is some early Chinese porcelain, which used the element cobalt to give it its blue glaze. A lustrous, silvery-blue metal. It is magnetic. Cobalt, like iron, can be magnetised and so is used to make magnets. It is alloyed with aluminium and nickel to make particularly powerful magnets.

Other alloys of cobalt are used in jet turbines and gas turbine generators, where high-temperature strength is important. Cobalt metal is sometimes used in electroplating because of its attractive appearance, hardness and resistance to corrosion.

Cobalt salts have been used for centuries to produce brilliant blue colours in paint, porcelain, glass, pottery and enamels. Radioactive cobalt is used to treat cancer and, in some countries, to irradiate food to preserve it. Biological role. Cobalt is an essential trace element, and forms part of the active site of vitamin B The amount we need is very small, and the body contains only about 1 milligram.

Cobalt salts can be given to certain animals in small doses to correct mineral deficiencies. In large doses cobalt is carcinogenic. Cobalt is a radioactive isotope. It is an important source of gamma-rays. It is widely used in cancer treatment, as a tracer and for radiotherapy. Natural abundance. Cobalt is found in the minerals cobaltite, skutterudite and erythrite. Most cobalt is formed as a by-product of nickel refining. A huge reserve of several transition metals including cobalt can be found in strange nodules on the floors of the deepest oceans.

The nodules are manganese minerals that take millions of years to form, and together they contain many tonnes of cobalt. Help text not available for this section currently. Elements and Periodic Table History. The tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, who ruled from BC, contained a small glass object coloured deep blue with cobalt. Cobalt blue was known even earlier in China and was used for pottery glazes. In , chemist Georg Brandt of Stockholm became interested in a dark blue ore from some local copper workings and he eventually proved that it contained a hitherto unrecognised metal and he gave it the name by which its ore was cursed by miners in Germany, where it was sometimes mistaken for a silver ore.

He published his results in For many years his claim to have uncovered a new metal was disputed by other chemists who said his new element was really a compound of iron and arsenic, but eventually it was recognised as an element in its own right. Atomic data. Glossary Common oxidation states The oxidation state of an atom is a measure of the degree of oxidation of an atom. Oxidation states and isotopes. Glossary Data for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey.

Relative supply risk An integrated supply risk index from 1 very low risk to 10 very high risk. Recycling rate The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. Substitutability The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity.

Reserve distribution The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. Political stability of top producer A percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators. Political stability of top reserve holder A percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators.

Supply risk. Relative supply risk 7. Young's modulus A measure of the stiffness of a substance. Shear modulus A measure of how difficult it is to deform a material. Bulk modulus A measure of how difficult it is to compress a substance. Vapour pressure A measure of the propensity of a substance to evaporate. Pressure and temperature data — advanced.

Listen to Cobalt Podcast Transcript :. You're listening to Chemistry in its element brought to you by Chemistry World , the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Cobalt is not often freely available in the environment, but when cobalt particles are not bound to soil or sediment particles the uptake by plants and animals is higher and accumulation in plants and animals may occur.

Cobalt is beneficial for humans because it is a part of vitamin B 12 , which is essential for human health. Cobalt is used to treat anaemia with pregnant women, because it stimulates the production of red blood cells.

The total daily intake of cobalt is variable and may be as much as 1 mg, but almost all will pass through the body unadsorbed, except that in vitamine B However, too high concentrations of cobalt may damage human health.

When we breathe in too high concentrations of cobalt through air we experience lung effects, such as asthma and pneumonia. This mainly occurs with people that work with cobalt. When plants grow on contaminated soils they will accumulate very small particles of cobalt, especially in the parts of the plant we eat, such as fruits and seeds.

Soils near mining and melting facilities may contain very high amounts of cobalt, so that the uptake by humans through eating plants can cause health effects. Health effects that are a result of the uptake of high concentrations of cobalt are: - Vomiting and nausea - Vision problems - Heart problems - Thyroid damage Health effects may also be caused by radiation of radioactive cobalt isotopes.

This can cause sterility, hair loss, vomiting, bleeding, diarrhoea, coma and even death. This radiation is sometimes used with cancer-patients to destroy tumors. These patients also suffer from hair loss, diarrhea and vomiting. Cobalt dust may cause an asthma-like disease with symptoms ranging from cough, shortness of breath and dyspnea to decreased pulmonary function, nodular fibrosis, permanent disability, and death.

Exposure to cobalt may cause weight loss, dermatitis, and respiratory hypersensitivity. Carcinogenicity- International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC haslisted cobalt and cobalt compounds within group 2B agents which are possibly carcinogenic to humans.

Despite the many uses for cobalt metal, cobalt's primary applications are in the chemical sector, which accounts for about half of the total global demand.

Cobalt chemicals are used in the metallic cathodes of rechargeable batteries, as well as in petrochemical catalysts, ceramic pigments, and glass decolorizers. Young, Roland S. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp. Davis, Joseph R. ASM International: Darton Commodities Ltd. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads.

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