Facts about Thallium inform the readers with a chemical element with the atomic number 81. It has the symbol of TI in the period system of table. You will never find it as a free element in the nature. It is considered as a post transition metal with gray color. In 1861, thallium was discovered by a Claude-Auguste Lamy and Chemists William Crookes independently. The special green color is generated from thallium. Crookes named it thallium. It was taken from the Greek word of Thallos, which means green twig or shoot. Here are other important facts about thallium:
Facts about Thallium 1: isolation
In 1862, both Crookes and Lamy were successful to isolate thallium. Cookes applied precipitation and melting to get thallium. On the other hand, electrolysis is conducted by Lamy to isolate the element.
Facts about Thallium 2: the production of commercial thallium
The production of commercial thallium is taken from the byproducts of the heavy metal sulfide ores. If you think that the element is commercially generated from potassium ores, you are very wrong.
Thallium
Facts about Thallium 3: the primary use of thallium
The primary use of thallium is applied in electronic industry. It accounts for around 60 to 70 percent of the production.
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Facts about Thallium 4: other uses of thallium
The remaining 40 to 30 percent of thallium production is applied in the glass production, infrared detectors, and pharmaceutical industries.
Facts about Thallium 5: the nuclear medicine scan
Do you know that a small amount of radioisotope thallium-201 is used in the nuclear medicine scan as an agent?
Thallium Facts
Facts about Thallium 6: Soluble thallium salts
You have to be careful when handling soluble thallium salts. They are mostly used as insecticides and rat poisons since they are toxic. However, they are tasteless. Due to their nonselective toxicity, many countries in the world have banned the use of soluble thallium salts.
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Facts about Thallium 7: hair loss
Hair loss is considered as one of the side effects of thallium poisoning. Thallium has been called as inheritance powder and the prisoner’s poison due to its history as a popular murder weapon along with arsenic.
Facts about Thallium 8: isotopes
Thallium has 25 isotopes. It begins with isotope 184 to isotope 210. It only has two stable isotopes, which accounts for almost all-natural thallium. They are 203TI and 205TI. The most stable one is 204TI.
Facts about Thallium
Facts about Thallium 9: thallium in earth’s crust
The presence of thallium in the earth’s crust is around 0.7 mg per kilogram. It has modest amount on the earth’s crust.
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Facts about Thallium 10: the production of thallium
The global production of thallium reaches 10 metric tonnes. Most of them are produced as the byproduct from lead, zinc and copper ores. In 1995 until 2009, the production of this element is reduced up to 33 percent.
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Tags: Chemical Element
