Samples Containing Vanadium

Overview

Vanadium (V) is widely distributed in nature. At least 135 different minerals of vanadium have been identified, but deposits containing more than 1 or 2% are rare. An important fact to take into account when handling and preparing samples is that vanadium is found generally in five types of compounds namely sulfides, oxides, sulfates, vanadates and silicates. Vanadium normally substitutes for iron (III) in rocks, concentrating especially in the iron oxide minerals magnetite and ilmenite. Weathering of vanadium (IV) bearing rocks changes it to vanadium (V) with higher solubility and this ultimate reduction and precipitation leads to its location in sandstones and other minerals.

Vanadium bearing porphyrins are found in heavy oil crudes and fractions, which is why it's used as a tracer for estimating air pollution caused by fossil-fuel combustion. Vanadium is present in almost all living organisms (including man) where certain marine invertebrates have the ability to accumulate vanadium from seawater in their blood (concentration factors of 280000 are common). Its biological role is not yet well understood.

Vanadium is used in a wide variety of ways. For example, vanadium is used in the production of many special steels, indelible inks, photography, in glass to absorb the UV, for coloring glass and ceramic glazes, and as a catalyst for various oxidation reactions such as the oxidation of sulfur dioxide in sulfuric acid production.

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