About Gadolinium

Johan Gadolin, a famous Finnish chemist and geologist, was the first scientist known to have to discovered a rare Earth metal. The metal that Gadolin discovered was called yttria, after the Ytterly quarry near Stockholm, Sweden, where the metal was found.

Further Isolation
Although the ytterite rock that Gadolin studied in the late 1700s contained gadolinium, along with many other minerals, it was not until later, when scientists like Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated an oxide form of gadolinium from ytterite, that gadolnium was isolated. It was then that gadolinium was officially named after Gadolin, since he was the first to have found ytteria, the mineral from which gadolinium was isolated. Only in recent times has the element been fully isolated.

Appearance and Qualities of Gadolinium
Gadolinium is a shiny, silver color, according to Lennech. Additionally, it is magnetic, as stated by Mike Jackson at the Institute for Rock Magnetism.

Rare Earth Metals
Rare earth metals are called such because for a long time they were thought to be rare, even though they were later found not to be. These are metals which do not exist on earth in a pure form, but are always combined with other substances according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Minerals in which gadolinium may be found include monazite and bastnaesite, according to Chemcool.

Biological Uses for Gadolinium

Gadolinium is one of the components of a dye used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). However, the Food and Drug Administration has required manufacturers of gadolinium dye to warn kidney patients about the use of gadolinium. The metal can cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a serious kidney-related condition characterized by, among other things, a thickening of the skin.

Industrial Uses of Gadolinium
Besides its use in MRIs and MRAs, gadolinium does not have many biological applications, because it is thought to be toxic. However, it is used in electronics to make computer memory, compact discs and phosphors for colors in television sets, the recording heads of video recorders, and the control rods for nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors, according to Lenntech, among other applications. According to Chemcool, it is also used in alloys. As stated by Jackson, it is also used in permanent magnets.