Antimony | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were powdered for use as medicine and cosmetics, often known by the Arabic name kohl. The earliest known description of the metalloid in the West was written in 1540 by Vannoccio Biringuccio. China is the largest producer of antimony and its compounds, with most production coming from the Xikuangshan Mine in Hunan. The industrial methods for refining antimony from stibnite are roasting followed by reduction with carbon, or direct reduction of stibnite with iron. The largest applications for metallic antimony are in alloys with lead and tin, which have improved properties for solders, bullets, and plain bearings. It improves the rigidity of lead-alloy plates in lead–acid batteries. Antimony trioxide is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Antimony is used as a dopant in semiconductor devices. Antimony is a member of group 15 of the periodic table, one of the elements called pnictogens, and has an electronegativity of 2.05. In accordance with periodic trends, it is more electronegative than tin or bismuth, and less electronegative than tellurium or arsenic. Antimony is stable in air at room temperature, but reacts with oxygen if heated to produce antimony trioxide, Sb2O3. Antimony is a silvery, lustrous gray metalloid with a Mohs scale hardness of 3, which is too soft to mark hard objects. Coins of antimony were issued in China's Guizhou province in 1931; durability was poor, and minting was soon discontinued. Antimony is resistant to attack by acids. Four allotropes of antimony are known: a stable metallic form, and three metastable forms (explosive, black, and yellow). Elemental antimony is a brittle, silver-white, shiny metalloid. When slowly cooled, molten antimony crystallizes into a trigonal cell, isomorphic with the gray allotrope of arsenic.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (1)

Related concepts (108)

Related courses (5)

Related lectures (18)

CH-427: Chemistry of f elements

The course will provide a synopsis of the chemistry of f elements (lanthanides and actinides) covering structure, bonding, redox and spectroscopic properties and reactivity. The coordination and organ

HUM-441: Collective creation: improv-arts & engineering I

Les techniques d'improvisation développées dans les arts vivants (théâtre, musique, danse, performance) sont mises en perspective avec les pratiques de conception en ingénierie. Ce cours enseigné à l'

HUM-402: Experimental history of science I

This course will introduce students to recent works and advancements in the history of science which will provide them with the necessary background to articulate historical questions and to understan

Chemistry of Elements: Oxygen and Phosphorus

Explores the chemistry of oxygen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth, including their properties, compounds, and historical significance.

Newton's Experiments: Lab Work

Covers Newton's experiments with various chemical reactions and transformations.

Crystal Field Effects: High Spin Low Spin

Discusses the transition between high spin and low spin states in crystal field effects on d orbitals.

Optoelectronic and Energy Level Exploration of Bismuth and Antimony-Based Materials for Lead-Free Solar Cells

Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin, Hiroyuki Kanda, Inés Garcia Benito, Ryosuke Nishikubo

Bismuth- and antimony-based materials, such as A(3)M(2)X(9) and AMSX(2) (A = cation, M = Bi, Sb, S = sulfur, X = halogen), are promising candidates as the counterpart to lead halide perovskite. Howeve

2020

A chemical element is a chemical substance that cannot be broken down into other substances. The basic particle that constitutes a chemical element is the atom, and each chemical element is distinguished by the number of protons in the nuclei of its atoms, known as its atomic number. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, meaning that each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. This is in contrast to chemical compounds and mixtures, which contain atoms with more than one atomic number.

Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin plumbum) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is a shiny gray with a hint of blue. It tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements.