Gadolinium metal

Gadolinium metal rods are gadolinium metal materials in the form of rods, the surface is usually silver grey, with the typical magnetic properties of gadolinium metal (room temperature paramagnetic, low temperature ferromagnetic), high melting point and density, as well as a certain degree of electrical conductivity, and plays an important role in the field of magnetic materials, the nuclear industry, medical equipment and other fields.

Properties

Molecular weight: 157.25

Density: 7.9004 g / cc (20 ℃), relatively high density, so that it has a good sense of stability and weight

Melting point: 1313°C, the high melting point ensures that it can still maintain good stability and form at high temperatures.

Boiling point: 3273°C (approximate)

Conductivity constant: relatively high resistivity, relatively poor conductivity, but the specific value of the conductivity constant is not explicitly mentioned due to limited information.

Dielectric constant: less relevant data, as a metal material with a relatively low dielectric constant.

Magnetic properties: Paramagnetic at room temperature, ferromagnetic after cooling. This property can be used to improve permanent magnets and is valuable in applications related to magnetism.

Optical Properties: The metal itself has a certain metallic luster and its compounds are used to produce phosphorescence in colour television tubes and computer monitors.

Applications

As a neutron absorber: two isotopes of gadolinium are effective neutron absorbers and are widely used in the manufacture of nuclear reactor control rods, which are used to absorb neutrons in order to ensure that the reactor chain reaction is stopped.

As an alloying additive: speciality steels can be given special properties, such as improved hardness, toughness and other properties of the steel.

For inspection of metal parts: has been successfully used in the new neutron radiography technique for detecting cracks and structural defects in ship hulls in the aerospace and shipbuilding industries.

Electronics: It can be used in processes such as semiconductor deposition, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) as sputtering targets or evaporation materials for the preparation of thin film coatings in electronic devices.

Medical field: Its compounds are often used as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to enhance the image quality of internal organs, blood vessels and tissues.

Magnetic cooling field: Gadolinium has a strong magneto-thermal effect at room temperature and can be used as a magnetic coolant. Magnetic refrigeration machines using gadolinium as a magnetic coolant can produce extremely low temperature environments, and have the advantages of being environmentally friendly, low noise, low energy consumption, small size, easy maintenance, and long life, making them a promising ‘green’ technology.