Beryllium

Beryllium has an ancient history that dates back to 300 BCE, when the mineral beryl was first used. By the first century CE, early scientists noted how similar beryl and emerald were. Ancient texts even describe how to create artificial beryl and emerald! What they didn’t realize was that both of these gemstones contain beryllium.

In the late 1700s chemists explored what beryl and emerald were made of. They initially thought these minerals contained aluminum silicates, but in 1798, French chemist Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered that the minerals contained a new element, but he could only isolate the oxide form. He called this new substance “glucine” because it had a sweet taste (we really don’t recommend tasting unknown substances), but it wasn’t until later that the element was officially named beryllium, after the mineral it was found in.

Thirty years later, two chemists working separately, Friedrich Wöhler of Germany and Antoinne Bussy of France, both independently figured out how to isolate beryllium. Both chemists discovered that they could use electrolysis to isolate beryllium by using potassium to strip the chlorine from beryllium chloride (a salt). Although they were able to isolate the metal, it only appeared as small grains and wasn’t easy to work with at first.

Over the years, beryllium became more important, especially during World War II. It was used in beryllium-copper alloys, which are super strong and tough, perfect for making tools and weapons. However, beryllium was later found to be toxic, and scientists had to develop safer ways to use it. Today, beryllium is used in aerospace, electronics, and even in nuclear reactors.

The metal is silver-gray in color and has many desirable properties. It is one of the lightest of all metals. Despite that, it is much stiffer than steel. That means you can push and pull on it with great force without affecting its size and shape very much.

It also has one of the highest melting points among the light metals, so it stays solid even at high temperatures. At everyday temperatures, it resists oxidation damage in air. (A very thin protective oxidized layer appears on its surface, that’s all.). It has excellent thermal conductivity, allowing heat to move through it rapidly, and is not magnetic.

Beryllium metal is often used to achieve lightness, stiffness, and stability. It is used in computer parts, gyroscopes and other aircraft components, space-telescope mirrors, and a variety of other instruments.

Beryllium is especially useful for nuclear technology. When exposed to alpha radiation (where an unstable atom releases an alpha particle, made of two protons and two neutrons) beryllium emits neutrons. Neutrons are extremely valuable in a variety of fields, including nuclear physics, electronics, materials science, and medical research.

While beryllium can be made to emit neutrons, it does not easily absorb them. That makes it useful in neutron-rich environments, such as the walls of a nuclear reactor. There, it can contain neutrons without being affected or weakened by them. Beryllium oxide, too, is useful in high-temperature aspects of nuclear tech because of its very high melting point.

Beryllium can be mixed with other metals to make alloys. The alloy beryllium copper is used for springs, electrical contacts, spot-welding electrodes, and non-sparking tools. Beryllium alloys are also used as structural materials for high-speed aircraft, missiles, spacecraft, and satellites. They are used in cars as well, including windshield frames and braking discs.

Beryllium is also relatively transparent to x-rays and other forms of radiation. That makes it a valuable window material in x-ray devices and particle detectors.

Beryllium is found in some 30 minerals. Beryl and bertrandite are its most important commercial sources. Beryllium metal, with no other atoms attached, did not become widely available to industry until 1957. Today, it is made by using magnesium to remove fluorine atoms from the salt beryllium fluoride.