|
Indium, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure,ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included. Indium has found application in semi-conductor materials and other electronic applications. It is used to make low-melting alloys, such as an alloy of 24% indium - 76% Indium is liquid at room temperature. It is used in making bearing alloys, germanium transistors, rectifiers, and photoconductors. It can be plated onto metal and evaporated onto glass, forming a mirror as good as that made with silver but with more resistance to atmospheric corrosion. Indium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. Indium is also used in various metal alloys (See AE Alloys). |
Indium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes.Nanoparticles and nanopowdersprovide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits.
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Indium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Indium is a Block P, Group 13, Period 5 element. The number of electrons in each of Indium‘s shells is 2, 8, 18, 18, 3 and its electronic configuration is [Kr] 4d10 5s2 5p1. In its elemental form indium‘s CAS number is 7440-74-6. The indium atom has a radius of 162.6.pm and it‘s Van der Waals radius is 193.pm. Indium is only slightly toxic.
All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Indium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. SeeAnalytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of indium and each of its naturally occurringisotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
The following table shows the abundance of Indium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for indium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Indiumcompounds have no biological role. Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for indium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it‘s ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
Conductivity. As to indium‘s electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ?C is 8.37 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.78. The thermal conductivity of indium is 81.6 W m-1 K-1. Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for indium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
|
| Formula | Atomic Number | Molecular Weight | Electronegativity (Pauling) | Density | Melting Point | Boiling Point | Vanderwaals radius | Ionic radius | Energy of first ionization |
| In | 49 | 114.82 g.mol-1 | 2 | 7.31 g.cm-3 at 20 °C | 156 °C | 2000 °C | 193.pm | 0.092 nm (+3) | 558.30 kJ.mol-1 |
