Why Vanadium?
Vanadium has been described as the ‘miracle metal' – with new uses for its unique properties still being found.
In steel, vanadium imparts strength, hardness, and wear resistance. In titanium alloys, it is used to produce jet engines, rockets, and nuclear reactor components.
For Prudent Energy, vanadium's importance resides in its characteristics as a chemical catalyst for sulfuric acid – and electrolytes.
Vanadium forms stable, concentrated electrolytic solutions in four neighboring oxidation states. The oxidation state of unreacted Vanadium is zero, whereas its fully reacted state is +5. The different states can be clearly identified by changing colors (see picture). Remarkably, Vanadium can have other oxidation values if it is only partially reacted.
At left: Oxidation states of vanadium, from left +2 (lilac), +3 (green), +4 (blue) and +5 (yellow).
Vanadium is mined naturally as an ore, and can be recovered as a by-product of steel manufacturing, coal-fired power generation, and oil shale production.