Transition metal
Vanadium is a chemical element; it has symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer (passivation) somewhat stabilizes the free metal against further oxidation.
Spanish scientist Andrés Manuel del Río discovered compounds of vanadium in 1801 by analyzing a new lead-bearing mineral he called "brown lead". Though he initially presumed its qualities were due to the presence of a new element, he was later erroneously convinced by French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils that the element was just chromium. Then in 1830, Nils Gabriel Sefström generated chlorides of vanadium, thus proving there was a new element, and named it "vanadium" after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility, Vanadís (Freyja). The name was based on the wide range of colors found in vanadium compounds. Del Río's lead mineral was ultimately named vanadinite for its vanadium content. In 1867, Henry Enfield Roscoe obtained the pure element.
Vanadium occurs naturally in about 65 minerals and fossil fuel deposits. It is produced in China and Russia from steel smelter slag. Other countries produce it either from magnetite directly, flue dust of heavy oil, or as a byproduct of uranium mining. It is mainly used to produce specialty steel alloys such as high-speed tool steels, and some aluminium alloys. …
Vanadium was discovered in Mexico in 1801 by the Spanish mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río. Del Río extracted the element from a sample of Mexican "brown lead" ore, later named vanadinite. He found that its salts exhibit a wide variety of colors, and as a result, he named the element panchromium (Greek: παγχρώμιο "all colors"). Later, del Río renamed the element erythronium (Greek: ερυθρός "red") because most of the salts turned red upon heating. In 1805, French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils, backed by del Río's friend Baron Alexander von Humboldt, incorrectly declared that del Río's new element was an impure sample of chromium. Del Río accepted Collet-Descotils' statement and retracted his claim.
In 1831 Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström rediscovered the element in a new oxide he found while working with iron ores. Later that year, Friedrich Wöhler confirmed that this element was identical to that found by del Río and hence confirmed del Río's earlier work. Sefström chose a name beginning with V, which had not yet been assigned to any element. He called the element vanadium after Old Norse Vanadís (another name for the Norse Vanir goddess Freyja, whose attributes include beauty and fertility), because of the many beautifully colored chemical compounds it produces. On learning of Wöhler's findings, del Río began to passionately argue that his old claim be recognized, but the element kept the name vanadium. …
Vanadium is an average-hard, ductile, steel-blue metal. Vanadium is usually described as "soft", because it is ductile, malleable, and not brittle. Vanadium is harder than most metals and steels (see Hardnesses of the elements (data page) and iron). It has good resistance to corrosion and it is stable against alkalis and sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. It is oxidized in air at about 933 K (660 °C, 1220 °F), although an oxide passivation layer forms even at room temperature. It also reacts with hydrogen peroxide.
Naturally occurring vanadium is composed of one stable isotope, 51V, and one radioactive isotope, 50V. The latter has a half-life of 2.71×1017 years and a natural abundance of 0.25%. 51V has a nuclear spin of 7⁄2 and can be used for NMR spectroscopy. Twenty-five artificial radioisotopes have been characterized, ranging in mass number from 42 to 68. The most stable of these isotopes are 49V with a half-life of 330 days, and 48V with a half-life of 15.97 days. The remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives shorter than an hour, most below 10 seconds.
Electron capture is the main decay mode for isotopes lighter than 51V. For the heavier ones, the most common mode is beta decay. The electron capture reactions lead to the formation of element 22 (titanium) isotopes, while beta decay leads to element 24 (chromium) isotopes.
Metallic vanadium is rare in nature (known as native vanadium), having been found among fumaroles of the Colima Volcano, but vanadium compounds occur naturally in about 65 different minerals.
Vanadium began to be used in the manufacture of special steels in 1896. At that time, very few deposits of vanadium ores were known. Between 1899 and 1906, the main deposits exploited were the mines of Santa Marta de los Barros (Badajoz), Spain. Vanadinite was extracted from these mines. At the beginning of the 20th century, a large deposit of vanadium ore was discovered near Junín, Cerro de Pasco, Peru (now the Minas Ragra vanadium mine). For several years this patrónite (VS4) deposit was an economically significant source for vanadium ore. In 1920 roughly two-thirds of the worldwide production was supplied by the mine in Peru. With the production of uranium in the 1910s and 1920s from carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O) vanadium became available as a side product of uranium production. Vanadinite (Pb5(VO4)3Cl) and other vanadium bearing minerals are only mined in exceptional cases. With the rising demand, much of the world's vanadium production is now sourced from vanadium-bearing magnetite found in ultramafic gabbro bodies. If this titanomagnetite is used to produce iron, most of the vanadium goes to the slag and is extracted from it. About 10% of world vanadium production is by primary extraction from ore, and 90% recovered from leftover slag after manufacturing steel. …
Approximately 85% of the vanadium produced is used as ferrovanadium or as a steel additive. The considerable increase of strength in steel containing small amounts of vanadium was discovered in the early 20th century. Vanadium forms stable nitrides and carbides, resulting in a significant increase in the strength of steel. From that time on, vanadium steel was used for applications in axles, bicycle frames, crankshafts, gears, and other critical components. There are two groups of vanadium steel alloys. Vanadium high-carbon steel alloys contain 0.15–0.25% vanadium, and high-speed tool steels (HSS) have a vanadium content of 1–5%. For high-speed tool steels, a hardness above HRC 60 can be achieved. HSS steel is used in surgical instruments and tools. Powder-metallurgic alloys contain up to 18% percent vanadium. The high content of vanadium carbides in those alloys increases wear resistance significantly. One application for those alloys is tools and knives.
Vanadium stabilizes the beta form of titanium and increases the strength and temperature stability of titanium. Mixed with aluminium in titanium alloys, it is used in jet engines, high-speed airframes and dental implants. The most common alloy for seamless tubing is Titanium 3/2.5 containing 2.5% vanadium, the titanium alloy of choice in the aerospace, defense, and bicycle industries. Another common alloy, primarily produced in sheets, is Titanium 6AL-4V, a titanium alloy with 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium. …
Naturally occurring vanadium is composed of one stable isotope, 51V, and one radioactive isotope, 50V. The latter has a half-life of 2.71×1017 years and a natural abundance of 0.25%. 51V has a nuclear spin of 7⁄2 and can be used for NMR spectroscopy. Twenty-five artificial radioisotopes have been characterized, ranging in mass number from 42 to 68. The most stable of these isotopes are 49V with a half-life of 330 days, and 48V with a half-life of 15.97 days. The remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives shorter than an hour, most below 10 seconds.
Electron capture is the main decay mode for isotopes lighter than 51V. For the heavier ones, the most common mode is beta decay. The electron capture reactions lead to the formation of element 22 (titanium) isotopes, while beta decay leads to element 24 (chromium) isotopes.
Vanadium has a more significant role in marine environments than terrestrial ones.
Several species of marine algae produce vanadium bromoperoxidase as well as the closely related chloroperoxidase (which may use a heme or vanadium cofactor) and iodoperoxidases. The bromoperoxidase produces an estimated 1–2 million tons of bromoform and 56,000 tons of bromomethane annually. Most naturally occurring organobromine compounds are produced by this enzyme, catalyzing the following reaction (R-H is hydrocarbon substrate):
A vanadium nitrogenase is used by some nitrogen-fixing micro-organisms, such as Azotobacter. In this role, vanadium serves in place of the more common molybdenum or iron, and gives the nitrogenase slightly different properties.
Vanadium is essential to tunicates, where it is stored in the highly acidified vacuoles of certain blood cell types, designated vanadocytes. Vanabins (vanadium-binding proteins) have been identified in the cytoplasm of such cells. The concentration of vanadium in the blood of ascidian tunicates is as much as ten million times higher than the surrounding seawater, which normally contains 1 to 2 μg/L. The function of this vanadium concentration system and these vanadium-bearing proteins is still unknown, but the vanadocytes are later deposited just under the outer surface of the tunic, where they may deter predation.
Amanita muscaria and related species of macrofungi accumulate vanadium (up to 500 mg/kg in dry weight). …