Discovered | Name | Characteristics | Found | Prepared | Uses

Vanadium is a transition metal in Group VB and the 4th period. Other members of the group are niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta).

Vanadium was first discovered by del Rio, a professor of mineralogy in Mexico, in 1801. He gave it the name erthronium. A French chemist, Collet-Descotils, incorrectly declared del Rio's new element was only impure chromium. Del Rio thought himself to be mistaken and accepted the French chemist's statement. The element was rediscovered by Sefström in 1830, and isolated in nearly pure form by Roscoe, in 1867, who reduced the chloride with hydrogen. Vanadium of 99.3 to 99.8% purity was not produced until 1927.

The name is derived from a Scandinavian goddess, Vanadis, and was given to the element by Berzelius. It was so named because the element forms many highly colored compounds. The symbol V is an abbreviation of the name.

Pure vanadium is a bright white metal, and is soft and ductile. It has good corrosion resistance to acids, bases and salt waters. In the solid state, the metal has a body-centered cubic structure.

As expected for an element with odd atomic number, V is less abundant in earth's crust than Ti.

Vanadium is found in about 50 different minerals, among which are carnotite [K2(UO2)2(VO4)2 3 H2O] and vanadinite [Pb5(VO4)3Cl]. Vanadium is also found in phosphate rock, in certain iron ores, and in some crude oils in the form of organic complexes. Commercial production from petroleum ash holds promise as an important source of the element.

High-purity vanadium can be obtained by reduction of the oxide with calcium or the trichloride with magnesium.

V2O3(s) + 3 Ca(s) 3 CaO(s) + 2 V(s)

It can also be produced by thermal decomposition methods.

Vanadium exists in compounds where its oxidation number is +2, +3, +4, and +5. When heated in air vanadium is oxidized to a brown-black trioxide (V2O3), blue-black tetroxide (VO2), and red-orange pentoxide (V2O5), depending on the temperature. With Cl2 it readily forms VCl4.

The metal has good structural strength and a low-fission neutron cross section, making it useful in nuclear applications. Very small quantities are sufficient to produce tool steels of great strength, toughness, and heat resistance. Vanadium is used in producing rust-resistant, spring, and high-speed tool steels and stainless steel. It is an important carbide stabilizer in making steels. Vanadium foil is used as a bonding agent in cladding titanium to steel.

Vanadium pentoxide is used in ceramics and as a catalyst in making sulfuric acid. It is also used as a mordant in dyeing and printing fabrics and in the manufacture of aniline black.