Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a relatively rare element in the universe, usually occurring as a product of the spallation of larger atomic nuclei that have collided with cosmic rays. Within the cores of stars, such as our sun, nuclear fusion reactions occur that consume hydrogen and convert it into helium. However, beryllium is only produced in very small quantities via this process. Beryllium-7 (seven protons in its nucleus) is especially important as it can capture free neutrons to form lithium-7 in what is called the first step of the so-called “alpha process” by which stars produce heavier elements from lighter ones.

Beryllium has some unusual properties that make it desirable for many industrial applications despite its rarity and high cost. It has one of the lowest melting points of all metals (−128.8 °C or −195 °F) and also one of the highest boiling points (2469 °C or 4476 °F). When heated, it vaporizes directly to a white smoke composed of BeO (beryllium oxide). Beryllium metal conducts heat better than any other known material except diamond; at room temperature, beryllium conducts heat more than four times better than copper by weight. In addition, beryllium has very low electrical resistivity: about 10 times less than that of copper at room temperature. These properties make beryllium useful for many applications where thermal conductivity or electrical resistance are important factors, such as electronics cooling, X-ray tubes and neutron shielding.. Alloys containing beryllium are also used in aerospace engineering because they have an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion: about half that of steel..

The discovery of beryllium began when French chemist Nicolas Louis Vauquelin was investigating emeralds in 1798–99.. He found green crystals embedded in certain rocks that he could not identify.. After examining these crystals under his microscope he suspected they were some kind unknown mineral.. He sent samples to two other prominent chemists Joseph Proust and Jean Guillaume Boussingault for further analysis who identified them as a new oxide compound which Vauquelin named “glucine”. Vauquelin then set out to isolated pure glucine (berylloxide), but failed due to impurities present in his crude samples.. It wasn’t until 1828 when Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius successfully purified anhydrous glucine using potassium hydroxide solution followed by recrystallization from alcohol.. In 1845 German mineralogist Karl Hermann von Schlagintweit showed that certain minerals thought to be alumina actually contained glucine instead thereby identifying another natural occurrence for this element we now know as beryl..

Today most commercial production comes from extracting alumina from non-bauxite sources like coal ash which contains about 1% by weight concentration on average.. This process involves adding sodium hydroxide solution to create a slurry which is then filtered and treated with sulfuric acid resulting precipitate being largely composed aluminum sulfate hexahydrate along with smaller amounts barite gypsum quartz calcite iron hydroxides/oxides and other impurities including sometimes up to 3% w/w concentration .. The final step involves heating this material above 1000°C decomposing much water driving off sulfur dioxide leaving behind an intermediate product commonly referred to “green liquor” rich solution sodium aluminate…