| Name | Vanadium |
| Symbol | V |
| Atomic Number | 23 |
| Atomic Mass | 50,9415 u |
| Density | 6,11 g/cm³ (20 °C) |
| Melting Point | 2183 K (1910 °C) |
Purchase Vanadium Semi-Finished Products
You can purchase high-quality vanadium semi-finished products from HWN Titan GmbH. Contact our service center by phone or via our contact form. Our employees will be happy to assist you.
Vanadium Semi-Finished Products – Learn More
Vanadium is a steel-gray heavy metal. When cold, it is easily forgeable, rollable, and drawable. When exposed to air, a thin protective oxide layer immediately forms on its surface.
Andrés Manuel del Río, a Mexican mineralogist, discovered vanadium in lead ore in 1801. Thirty years later, the metal was rediscovered in Falun by the Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström. In 1867, impure vanadium was isolated by Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe in Manchester. Pure vanadium, with a purity of 99.8%, was first obtained in 1927 by Americans J. W. Marden and Malcolm Rich through the reduction of vanadium(V) oxide with calcium.
High-Temperature Alloys
With 85% of produced vanadium being consumed in the steel industry, the vast majority is used in steel production. Since high purity is not necessary for this application, ferrovanadium is used as the raw material. Even in small quantities, vanadium significantly increases the strength, toughness, and wear resistance of steels. Vanadium is also a crucial component for high-temperature alloys. Vanadium alloys are increasingly used in the reactor industry for fuel rod cladding. Vanadium is also becoming more important in superconductor technology.
Titanium alloys containing vanadium, and often aluminum, are particularly stable and heat-resistant. These alloys are used in the aerospace industry for load-bearing parts and turbine blades in aircraft engines.
Vanadium Production
Vanadium is a relatively common element on Earth but, like titanium, occurs diffusely. Vanadium is found in very small amounts in many iron, copper, zinc, and titanium ores. The largest amounts of vanadium are obtained as a byproduct in the slag from iron and steel production and during the smelting of vanadium-bearing titanium and uranium ores.
The production of pure vanadium is achieved through electrolytic reduction. High-purity vanadium is obtained using the Van Arkel-de Boer process, which involves the decomposition of vanadium oxide at 900-1000°C.
