Gadolinium

Chemical element symbol is (Gd) and atomic number 64.

Gadolinium (Gd) Gadolinium is a Rare Earth Metal classified in the group of Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE).

Gadolinium oxide was isolated in 1880 by Jean Charles de Marignac Galissard and Paul-Emile Lecog de Boisbaudran prepared the pure metal in 1886. It is named after the Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin, who also discovered and named the mineral, which it is extracted, gadolinite.

Gadolinium is silver grey, malleable and ductile at room temperature. It crystallizes in hexagonal form at room temperature, but when heated to temperatures above 1235 °C, it turns into its form B, which has a body centred cubic structure.

Gadolinium has some toxicity. Therefore the Gadolinium compounds are used in medicine as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Gadolinium nanotubes, nicknamed “gado-nanotubes” once injected, Gadolinium based contrast agents, accumulates in abnormal tissues of the brain and body. This accumulation provides a greater contrast between normal and abnormal tissue, which allows physicians to better locate the outgrowth of tumors and rare cells.

The abundance in the earth’s crust is about 6.2 mg/kg. The main mining areas are China, the US, Brazil, Sri Lanka, India and Australia with reserves expected to exceed one million tonnes. The world of pure Gadolinium production is approximately 400 tons per year.