Tellurium
Telurio (Te, Z=52)
- Date
- 1782 · confidence high
- Place
- Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Transylvania, Romania
- Credited to
- Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein
- People
- 👤 Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein1742–1825
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Müller, a mine inspector, found an unknown metal in gold from Transylvania; Klaproth confirmed and named it in 1798.
The name comes from the Latin 'tellus', Earth.
What it led to
- Cadmium telluride solar cells
- Phase-change memory and rewritable discs
- Thermoelectric devices (Bi2Te3)
Built on
- Transylvanian gold mining
- Mineral analysis
Made possible
- CdTe solar cell
- Peltier module