|
|
|
||||
|
Indium - In General Information Discovery Indium was discovered by F. Reich and H. Richter in 1863 in Freiberg, Germany. Appearance Indium is a very soft, silvery-white metal with a brilliant lustre. Source Indium is often associated with zinc minerals and iron, lead and copper ores. It is commercially produced from the zinc minerals, usually as a by-product. Uses Indium has semiconductor uses in transistors, thermistors and photoconductors. It is also used to make low-temperature alloys; for example, an alloy of 24% indium-76% gallium is liquid at room temperature. Indium can also be plated on to metal and evaporated on to glass to give a mirror with better resistance to corrosion than silver. A tiny long-lived indium battery has been devised to power new electronic watches. Biological Role Indium has no known biological role but has been shown to cause birth defects. It has low toxicity. General Information Indium is stable in air and with water, but reacts with acids. |
| Physical Information | |||
| Atomic Number | 49 | ||
| Relative Atomic Mass (12C=12.000) | 114.82 | ||
| Melting Point/K | 429 | ||
| Boiling Point/K | 2353 | ||
| Density/kg m-3 | 7310 (298K) | ||
| Ground State Electron Configuration | [Kr]4d105s25p1 | ||
| Electron Affinity(M-M-)/kJ mol-1 | -34 |
| Key Isotopes | ||||||
| nuclide | 111In | 113In | 115In | |||
| atomic mass | 112.9 | 114.9 | ||||
| natural abundance | 0% | 4.3% | 95.7% | |||
| half-life | 2.81 days | stable | 6x1014 yrs |
| Other Information | ||
| Enthalpy of Fusion/kJ mol-1 | 3.27 | |
| Enthalpy of Vaporisation/kJ mol-1 | 231.8 | |
| Oxidation States | ||
| main | In+3 | |
| others | In+1, In+2 | |
| Ionisation Energies/kJ mol-1 | ||
| M - M+ | 558.3 | |
| M+ - M2+ | 1820.6 | |
| M2+ - M3+ | 2704 | |
| M3+ - M4+ | 5200 | |
| M4+ - M5+ | 7400 | |
| M5+ - M6+ | 9500 | |
| M6+ - M7+ | 11700 | |
| M7+ - M8+ | 13900 | |
| M8+ - M9+ | 17200 | |
| M9+ - M10+ | 19700 | |
|
|
|
|
|