Iron information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its 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.
Iron is the most commonly used metal for commercial applications due to its hardness, historical availability and low cost. Once used on its own, it is now alloyed with nickel and other elements to produce steel and other high strength, non-corrosive structural metals. Iron as a metal and as its many compounds has numerous uses. It is a primary colorant in glass and ceramics. It is a catalyst. It is the basis for low grade magnets and because of its magnetic properties is used extensively in memory tape. Iron is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. Iron facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are
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. Iron is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries. Iron is a Block D, Group 8, Period 4 element. The electronic configuration is [Ar] 3d6 4s2. In its elemental form iron's CAS number is 7439-89-6. The iron atom has a radius of 124.1.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 200.pm.All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology advantages. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Iron compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis. Iron was first discovered by Early Man.
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of iron and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope. |
fer
Eisen
ferro
Ferro
hierro
Järn
Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
Fe-54 |
53.939615 |
5.8 |
Fe-56 |
55.934942 |
91.72 |
Fe-57 |
56.935399 |
2.1 |
Fe-58 |
57.933280 |
0.28 |
Safety Data. The safety data for iron 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.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for iron (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: |
1st Ionization Energy |
762.47 kJ mol-1 |
2nd Ionization Energy |
1561.90 kJ mol-1 |
3rd Ionization Energy |
2957.49 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to iron's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 9.71 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.83. The thermal conductivity of iron is 80.2 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for iron are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization. |
Heat of Fusion |
14.9 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Vaporization |
340.2 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Atomization |
413.96 kJ mol-1 |
| Formula | Atomic Number | Molecular Weight | Electronegativity (Pauling) | Density | Melting Point | Boiling Point |
Vanderwaals radius |
Ionic radius | Energy of first ionization |
| Fe | 26 | 55.85 g.mol -1 | 1.8 | 7.8 g.cm-3 at 20 °C | 1536 °C | 2861 °C | 200.pm | 0.076 nm (+2) ; 0.064 nm (+3) | 762.47 kJ.mol-1 |
| PRODUCT CATALOG | UK Operations | Submicron & Nanopowder | Tolling | Ultra High Purity | Sputtering Target | Crystal Growth | Rod, Plate, Powder, etc. | Foil |
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