Antimony Facts
Antimony Facts
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| Interesting Antimony Facts: |
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| Antimony was used in ancient Egypt as a form of eyeliner (kohl). |
| Other items made of antimony have been found dating back to 3000 BC in Chaldea (Iraq). |
| The first published report on how to isolate antimony was by Vannoccio Biringuccio in 1540. |
| Agricola published his own description in 1556, and is therefore often incorrectly credited with discovering antimony. |
| Antimony's periodic symbol comes from Jons Jakob Berzelius, who used the abbreviation for stibium. |
| Its name is attributed to the French word for "monk killer," since toxic antimony is linked to alchemy, which was often studied by monks. |
| Antimony is stable at normal temperatures, but reacts with oxygen when it is heated. |
| There are four known allotropes of antimony. |
| One of the allotropes, the metallic antimony, is stable, but the other three are metastable. |
| One of the metastable forms is explosive antimony, and produces white fumes when scratched with a metal object. |
| Antimony has two stable isotopes. |
| It also has thirty-five radioactive isotopes. |
| The longest half-life of any of the radioisotopes is 2.75 years. |
| Antimony is believed to be found in the Earth's crust at about 0.2 to 0.5 parts per million. |
| It is found in over 100 different minerals. |
| Antimony is occasionally found in its pure form, but is most commonly found in the mineral stibnite. |
| China is typically the top global producer of antimony, extracting between 84% and 88% of the supply. |
| Antimony is ranked first on the British Geological Survey's Risk List, due to its supply. |
| It was also listed as one of the twelve most critical materials by the EU, since the overwhelming supply comes from outside of Europe (China). |
| No new antimony deposits have been discovered in China in over ten years, and the current supply is being depleted quickly. |
| The predominant uses for antimony include alloying with other metals, creating flame retardant products, and as a chemical stabilizer. |
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