The development of cobalt
In the case of cobalt, the ancient greeks and Romans used its compound to make colored glass to produce a beautiful dark blue.By the 20th century, cobalt and its alloys had been widely used in the electrical, mechanical, chemical, aerospace and other industrial sectors and had become an important strategic metal.China began to extract cobalt from cobalt ore, nickel ore and cobalt-bearing pyrite in the 1950s.The use of cobalt minerals has a long history. The egyptians used cobalt blue as a coloring agent for ceramic products in the BC period, and cobalt compounds have been widely used in ceramic production since the tang dynasty.Cobalt was first isolated by the Swedish chemist Brandt in 1735 and identified as an element by Bergman in 1780.
The use of the cobalt
At present, the consumption and application of cobalt in the traditional fields are mainly battery Cobalt materials, super heat resistant alloy, tool steel, carbide, magnetic materials;Cobalt, which is consumed as a compound, is mainly used as a catalyst, desiccant, reagent, pigment and dye.Cobalt-60 is a widely used radioactive material widely used in biochemistry for activation analysis.For tracer studies in electroplating, corrosion and catalysis;It is used in medicine for radiological examination and treatment.
Magnetic materials
super heat resistant Cobalt alloy is one of the few metals that can be magnetized once and remain magnetic.Magnetic Cobalt materials is an important functional material, which plays a very important role in the field of electronic industry and high technology.
Carbide and superalloy
Tool steels containing a certain amount of COBALT METAL PIECE can significantly improve the wear resistance and cutting performance of steel. Cobalt combines the carbide grains of other metals in the alloy composition to make the alloy more ductile and less sensitive to impact.Especially suitable for high efficiency high temperature engines and steam turbines, cobalt-based alloys are widely used in aerospace and modern military fields.
Forward-looking industry research institute "in 2013-2017 China's cemented carbide industry market foresight strategic planning and investment analysis report data show that in 2012 China's cemented carbide production of 23500 tons, cemented carbide industry sales revenue of 20.9 billion yuan, carbide exports nearly 5000 tons, foreign exchange earning more than $360 million, deep processing of cemented carbide products output reached 6600 tons, about a third of the alloy production.At present China is the world's first cemented carbide producer.The excellent performance of cobalt in the field of hard alloy makes its demand show a steady growth trend.
battery Cobalt materials
At present, nearly 40% of cobalt consumption is used in rechargeable battery materials, such as lithium cobalt oxide for lithium-ion batteries and cobalt oxide for nickel-metal hydride batteries.The main use of cobalt is in lithium batteries, one of the core of lithium ion batteries is its anode material, which USES lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), a solid electrolyte, with high energy density and high environmental safety.
According to statistics, the consumption of cobalt in lithium cobalt oxide industry in China was about 27,000 tons in 2014, a year-on-year increase of 28.6%.In 2014, the domestic production capacity of lithium cobalt oxide was 60,000 tons, and the actual output was about 45,000 tons.
The health care industry
Cobalt is also widely used in the medical field. The radioactive isotope of cobalt can be used to treat skin diseases and malignant tumors.
The development status of cobalt industry
In recent years, global production of refined COBALT METAL PIECE has outstripped consumption, leading to oversupply and falling prices.Due to the continuous expansion of existing cobalt ore and cobalt refining plant capacity, new plants are being built and put into operation, and it is expected that this excess situation cannot be reversed in the short term.China is the world's largest producer of refined cobalt.China produces mostly cobalt ore and imports some refined cobalt from the democratic republic of Congo.In recent years, China has begun to deplete its vast reserves of raw cobalt from 2009 to 2011.
In the first half of 2014, the amount of refined cobalt minerals available globally by production rose 10 per cent from the previous year.With the exception of China, countries such as Finland, Japan and Madagascar have all seen big increases in production, leading to a rise in global output.Lse cobalt stocks fell from 560 tonnes at the end of 2013 to 491 tonnes at the end of December 2014.