Related topics: fukushima

Bonobo diet of aquatic greens may hold clues to human evolution

Observations of bonobos in the Congo basin foraging in swamps for aquatic herbs rich in iodine, a critical nutrient for brain development and higher cognitive abilities, may explain how the nutritional needs of prehistoric ...

Impossible material made possible inside a graphene sandwich

Atoms bind together by sharing electrons. The way this happens depends on the atom types but also on conditions such as temperature and pressure. In two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, atoms join along a plane ...

A rare iodine polymer discovery is key to starch-iodine mystery

In the pursuit of a new class of photovoltaic materials, researchers at UC Santa Barbara happened upon an entirely different discovery that addresses a centuries-old mystery of chemistry: Why does an iodine solution turn ...

Chemists are first to see elements transform at atomic scale

Chemists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences, collaborating with PerkinElmer and UCL (University College London), have witnessed atoms of one chemical element morph into another for the first time ever—a feat ...

Iodine may slow ozone layer recovery

A new paper quantifying small levels of iodine in Earth's stratosphere could help explain why some of the planet's protective ozone layer isn't healing as fast as expected.

Iodine successfully tested in satellite ion thrusters

A team of researchers from ThrustMe, working with colleagues from Sorbonne Université, has successfully tested the use of iodine as an ionizing agent in an ion-thrusting spacecraft engine. In their paper published in the ...

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Iodine

Iodine (pronounced /ˈaɪ.ədaɪn/, /ˈaɪ.ədɨn/, or in chemistry /ˈaɪ.ədiːn/; from Greek: ιώδης iodes "violet"), is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons.

Chemically, iodine is the second least reactive of the halogens, and the second most electropositive halogen; trailing behind astatine in both of these categories. However, the element does not occur in the free state in nature. As with all other halogens (members of Group XVII in the periodic table), when freed from its compounds iodine forms diatomic molecules (I2).

Iodine and its compounds are primarily used in medicine, photography, and dyes. Although it is rare in the solar system and Earth's crust, the iodides are very soluble in water, and the element is concentrated in seawater. This mechanism helps to explain how the element came to be required in trace amounts by all animals and some plants, being the heaviest element commonly used by living organisms (only tungsten, used in enzymes by a few bacteria, is heavier).

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