9 Dec 2019

Vanadium - Model T Fords, big batteries & sea squirts

From Elemental, 8:00 am on 9 December 2019

Vanadium is a transition metal used to make steel stronger & lighter.

It is named after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility Vanadis.

Vanadium is being used in what will be the world's largest battery, and sea squirts are one of a small handful of organisms that contain large amounts of vanadium used in some enzymes, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 91 of Elemental.

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Photo: RNZ

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The Elemental podcast is celebrating 150 years since the periodic table was first published by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.

Find out more about events during the United Nation’s International Year of the Periodic Table.

Professor Allan Blackman is at Auckland University of Technology.