SELENIUM

• Atomic Number: 34
• Atomic Symbol: Se
• Atomic Weight: 78.96
• Electron Configuration: -8-18-6

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History:

(Gr. Selene, moon) Discovered by Berzelius in 1817, who found it associated with tellurium, named for the earth. Selenium is found in a few rare minerals such as crooksite and clausthalite. In years past it has been obtained from flue dusts remaining from processing copper sulfide ores, but the anode metal from electrolytic copper refineries now provide the source of mostof the world's selenium. Selenium is recoverd by roasting the muds with soda or sulfuric acid, or by smelting them with soda and niter. Selenium exists in several allotropic forms. Three are generally recognized, but as many as that have been claimed. Selenium can be prepared with either an amorphous or crystalline structure. The color of amorphous selenium is either red, in powder form, or black, in vitreous form. Crystalline monoclinic slenium is a deep red; crystalline hexagonal selenium, the most stalbe variety, is a metallic gray. Naturaly selenium contains six stable isotopes. Fifteen other isotopes have been characterized. The element is a member of the sulfur family and resembles sulfur both in its various forms and in its compounds. Selenium exhibits both photovoltaic action, where light is converted directly into electricity, and photoconductive action, where the electrical resistance decreases with increased illumination. These properties make selenium useful in the production of photocells and exposure meters for photographic use, as well as solar cells. Selenium is also able to convert a.c. electricity to d.c., and is extensively used in rectifiers. Below its melting point selenium is a p-type semiconductor and is finding many uses in electronic and solid-state applications. It is used in Xerography for reproducing and copying documents, letters, etc. It is used by the glass industry to decolorize glass and to make ruby-colored glasses and enamels. It is also used as a photographic toner, and as an additive to stainless steel. Elemental selenium has been said to be practially nontoxic and is considered to be an essential trace element; however, hydrogen selenide and other selenium compounds are extremely toxic, and resemble arsenic in their physiological reactions. Hydrogen selenide in a concentration of 1.5 ppm is intolerable to man. Selenium occurs in some soild in amounts sufficient to produce serious effects on animals feeding on plants, such as locoweed, grown in such soils. Exposure to selenium compounds (as Se) in air should not exceed 0.2 mg/m^3 (8-hour time-weighted average - 40-hour week). Selenium is priced at about $300/lb. It is alos available in high-purity form at a somewhat higher cost.

Source: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 1913-1995. David R. Lide, Editor in Chief. Author: C.R. Hammond