Vanadium
Vanadio (V, Z=23)
- Date
- 1801 · confidence medium
- Place
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Credited to
- Andrés Manuel del Río (rediscovered by Nils Sefström)
- People
- 👤 Andrés Manuel del Río Fernández1764–1849
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Del Río found it in brown lead from Zimapán and called it erythronium, but retracted his claim; Sefström rediscovered it in iron from Taberg in 1830 and gave it the name vanadium.
A classic priority dispute: del Río withdrew his claim after a mistaken opinion by Collet-Descotils.
What it led to
- Vanadium steels for tools and cars (the Ford Model T)
- A catalyst in sulfuric acid manufacture
- Vanadium redox flow batteries
Built on
- Colonial mineralogy
- Wet-method analysis
Made possible
- Vanadium redox flow battery1985-1988
- Chromium-vanadium steel
- Vanadium flow battery