Gold information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its High Purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
Gold is a soft metal and is usually alloyed to give it more strength. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is unaffected by air and most reagents. It is used in coinage and is a standard for monetary systems. It is also extensively used for jewelry, dental work, and for plating. It is used for coating certain space satellites, as it is a good reflector of infrared and is inert. One area that has seen significant growth is the use of gold in electronics, particularly within telecommunications, information technology and safety critical applications. Similarly, within computers there are usually gold-plated edge connectors. Gold bonding wires are used extensively within semiconductor packages, gold thick film inks are applied in the fabrication of hybrid circuits and gold's excellent solder wetting properties are used to form a very thin protective layer on copper laminate printed circuit boards. Gold is an indispensable element for nanoscale electronic components because of its resistance to oxidation and its mechanical robustness. There are a number of direct applications of gold in medical devices. New development are based on its use as a catalyst in chemical processing, pollution control and fuel cell applications. Gold is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder.
Highly stable low oxidizing metals such as gold, iridium, aluminum and titanium are used in a host of medical applications, such as to create body implants and in regenerative medicine.
Gold facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nanoparticles and nanopowders provide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits.
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Gold is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Gold is a Block D, Group 11, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Gold's shells is 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 1 and its electronic configuration is [Xe] 4f142 5d10 6s1. In its elemental form gold's CAS number is 7440-57-5. The gold atom has a radius of 144.2.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 166.pm. Gold is not toxic.
All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Gold compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Gold was first discovered by Early Man c.a. 3000 B.C. The element name originated from the Latin word 'aurum' meaning gold.
Or |
Gold |
Oro |
Ouro |
Oro |
Guld |
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of gold and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Au-197 |
196.966552 |
100 |
The following table shows the abundance of Gold present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
| |
Typical Human Body |
Universe |
| by Weight |
100 ppb |
0.6 ppb |
| by Atom |
3 ppb |
0.004 ppb |
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for gold metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Gold compounds have no biological role but are used in some medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for gold (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
| 1st Ionization Energy |
890.13 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
1977.96 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
- kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to gold's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 2.35 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 2.4. The thermal conductivity of gold is 317 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for gold are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
12.7 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
343.1 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
365.93 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for Gold
- To Sleeve or NOT to Sleeve in Bariatric Surgery?
van Rutte PW, Luyer MD, de Hingh IH, Nienhuijs SW.
ISRN Surg. 2012;2012:674042. Epub 2012 Aug 16.
PMID:
22957275
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Role of functional MRI in presurgical evaluation of memory function in temporal lobe epilepsy.
Limotai C, Mirsattari SM.
Epilepsy Res Treat. 2012;2012:687219. Epub 2012 May 15.
PMID:
22957237
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Childhood obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.
Narang I, Mathew JL.
J Nutr Metab. 2012;2012:134202. Epub 2012 Aug 22.
PMID:
22957216
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Towards real-time detection of tumor margins using photothermal imaging of immune-targeted gold nanoparticles.
Jakobsohn K, Motiei M, Sinvani M, Popovtzer R.
Int J Nanomedicine. 2012;7:4707-13. Epub 2012 Aug 28.
PMID:
22956871
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Serological diagnosis of leptospiral uveitis by HbpA-IgG ELISA.
Sivakolundu S, Sivakumar R, Chidambaranathan GP, Sritharan M.
J Med Microbiol. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22956745
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Are pediatric quality care measures too stringent?
Casciato A, Angier H, Milano C, Gideonse N, Gold R, Devoe J.
J Am Board Fam Med. 2012 Sep;25(5):686-93.
PMID:
22956704
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead: Report from the OCHIN Safety Net West Practice-based Research Network (PBRN).
Devoe JE, Likumahuwa S, Eiff MP, Nelson CA, Carroll JE, Hill CN, Gold R, Kullberg PA.
J Am Board Fam Med. 2012 Sep;25(5):560-4.
PMID:
22956690
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
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Chronic kidney disease and cardiac remodelling in patients with mild heart failure: results from the REsynchronization reVErses Remodeling in Systolic Left vEntricular Dysfunction (REVERSE) study.
Mathew J, Katz R, St John Sutton M, Dixit S, Gerstenfeld EP, Ghio S, Gold MR, Linde C, Shlipak MG, Deo R.
Eur J Heart Fail. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22956574
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Single-step QuantiFERON screening of adult contacts: a prospective cohort study of tuberculosis risk.
Haldar P, Thuraisingam H, Patel H, Pereira N, Free RC, Entwisle J, Wiselka M, Hoskyns EW, Monk P, Barer MR, Woltmann G.
Thorax. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22956558
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Three-dimensional carbon nanotube electrodes for extracellular recording of cardiac myocytes.
Nick C, Joshi R, Schneider JJ, Thielemann C.
Biointerphases. 2012 Dec;7(1-4):58. Epub 2012 Sep 7.
PMID:
22956466
[PubMed - in process]
-
Mood and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Pediatric Patients With Heart Failure.
Menteer J, Beas VN, Chang JC, Reed K, Gold JI.
Pediatr Cardiol. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22956059
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Management of small HER2 overexpressing tumours.
Templeton A, Ocaņa A, Seruga B, Vera-Badillo F, Carlsson L, Bedard P, Amir E.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22956007
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Efficacy and safety of higher doses of botulinum toxin type A NT 201 free from complexing proteins in the upper and lower limb spasticity after stroke.
Santamato A, Panza F, Ranieri M, Frisardi V, Micello MF, Filoni S, Fortunato F, Intiso D, Basciani M, Logroscino G, Fiore P.
J Neural Transm. 2012 Sep 7. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955957
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
How much difference does the age at onset make in early arthritis patients? Comparison between the ACR 1987 and the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis at the time of diagnosis.
Tamas MM, Felea I, Rednic S.
Rheumatol Int. 2012 Sep 7. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955876
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Rational design of oriented assembly of gold nanospheres with nanorods by biotin-streptavidin connectors.
Zhou X, Wang Y, Zhong L, Bao S, Han Y, Ren L, Zhang Q.
Nanoscale. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955723
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Accuracy of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) in Administrative Data.
Goldman LE, Chu PW, Osmond D, Bindman A.
Med Care Res Rev. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955698
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Ensembles of nanoelectrodes modified with gold nanoparticles: characterization and application to DNA-hybridization detection.
Silvestrini M, Ugo P.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2012 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955672
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Determination of optimal fiducial marker across image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) modalities: visibility and artifact analysis of gold, carbon, and polymer fiducial markers.
Handsfield LL, Yue NJ, Zhou J, Chen T, Goyal S.
J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2012 Sep 6;13(5):3976. doi: 10.1120/jacmp.v13i5.3976.
PMID:
22955665
[PubMed - in process]
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Sensitive and selective SERS probe for trivalent chromium detection using citrate attached gold nanoparticles.
Ye Y, Liu H, Yang L, Liu J.
Nanoscale. 2012 Sep 7. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22955571
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Comparison of structural bone autografts and allografts in pediatric foot surgery.
Vining NC, Warme WJ, Mosca VS.
J Pediatr Orthop. 2012 Oct;32(7):719-23.
PMID:
22955536
[PubMed - in process]
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