Thallium 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.
 Thallium is primarily used for its electrical conductivity as thallium sulfide which changes with exposure to infrared light. This ability makes the compound useful in photocells. Thallium bromide-iodide crystals have been used as infrared optical materials. Thallium has been used, with sulfur or selenium and arsenic, to produce low melting glasses which becomes fluid between 125 and 150 C. These glasses have properties at room temperatures similar to ordinary glasses and are said to be durable and insoluble in water. Thallium oxide has been used to produce glasses with a high index of refraction, and is also used in the manufacture of photo cells. Thallium 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.
Thallium 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. Thallium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Thallium is a Block P, Group 13, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Thallium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 3 and its electronic configuration is [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p1. In its elemental form thallium's CAS number is 7440-28-0. The thallium atom has a radius of 170.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 196.pm.
Thallium and its compounds are highly 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 Thallium 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.
Thallium was first discovered by Sir William Crookes in 1861.
Thallium get its name from the Greek word "thallos" which means twig or green shoot.
 Thallium |
 Thallium |
 tallio |
 Tálio |
 talio |
 Thallium |
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of thallium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Tl-203 |
202.972329 |
29.524 |
| Tl-205 |
204.974412 |
70.476 |
The following table shows the abundance of Thallium 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 |
no data |
0.5 ppb |
| by Atom |
no data |
0.003 ppb |
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for thallium 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. Thallium compounds have no biological role.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for thallium (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 |
589.36 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
1971.02 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
2878.18 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to thallium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 18 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.8. The thermal conductivity of thallium is 46.1 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for thallium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
4.31 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
166.1 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
182.845 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for ThalliumAdditive effect of dl-penicillamine plus Prussian blue for the antidotal treatment of thallotoxicosis in rats.
Montes S, Pérez-Barrón G, Rubio-Osornio M, Ríos C, Diaz-Ruíz A, Altagracia-Martínez M, Monroy-Noyola A.
Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2011 Nov;32(3):349-55. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
PMID:
22004953
[PubMed - in process]
Brain SPECT Thallium Using Cadmium Zinc Telluride: A First Experience.
Farid K, Queneau M, Guernou M, Lussato D, Petras S, Songy B.
Clin Nucl Med. 2011 Nov;36(11):e178-9.
PMID:
21975418
[PubMed - in process]
Thallium-201 scintigraphy is an effective diagnostic modality to distinguish malignant from benign soft-tissue tumors.
Kawakami N, Kunisada T, Sato S, Morimoto Y, Tanaka M, Sasaki T, Sugihara S, Yanai H, Kanazawa S, Ozaki T.
Clin Nucl Med. 2011 Nov;36(11):982-6.
PMID:
21975384
[PubMed - in process]
[One case of acute thallium poisoning].
Yan LL, Wang ZH, Li SH.
Zhonghua Lao Dong Wei Sheng Zhi Ye Bing Za Zhi. 2011 May;29(5):393-4. Chinese. No abstract available.
PMID:
21972545
[PubMed - in process]
Effects of exercise training started within 2 weeks after acute myocardial infarction on myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function: a gated SPECT imaging study.
Giallauria F, Acampa W, Ricci F, Vitelli A, Maresca L, Mancini M, Grieco A, Gallicchio R, Xhoxhi E, Spinelli L, Cuocolo A, Vigorito C.
Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2011 Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21965517
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Altered Neuronal Activity Patterns in the Visual Cortex of the Adult Rat after Partial Optic Nerve Crush--A Single-Cell Resolution Metabolic Mapping Study.
Macharadze T, Pielot R, Wanger T, Scheich H, Gundelfinger ED, Budinger E, Goldschmidt J, Kreutz MR.
Cereb Cortex. 2011 Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21940702
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
[Accumulation of sodium and potassium ions in oocytes of the river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis during prespawning period].
Sherstobitov AO, Lapin AV, Glazunov VV, Nikiforov VA, Nikiforov AA.
Zh Evol Biokhim Fiziol. 2011 Jul-Aug;47(4):278-82. Russian.
PMID:
21938909
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Hidden superlattice in Tl2(SC6H4S) and Tl2(SeC6H4Se) solved from powder X-ray diffraction.
Stone KH, Turner DL, Singh MP, Vaid TP, Stephens PW.
Acta Crystallogr B. 2011 Oct;67(Pt 5):409-15. Epub 2011 Sep 16.
PMID:
21931210
[PubMed]
Thallium in the hydrosphere of south west England.
Law S, Turner A.
Environ Pollut. 2011 Dec;159(12):3484-9. Epub 2011 Sep 16.
PMID:
21925780
[PubMed - in process]
Myocardial Uptake of 7'-(Z)-[123I]Iodorotenone During Vasodilator Stress in Dogs with Critical Coronary Stenoses.
Broisat A, Ruiz M, Goodman NC, Hanrahan SM, Reutter BW, Brennan KM, Janabi M, Schaefer S, Watson DD, Beller GA, Vanbrocklin HF, Glover DK.
Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2011 Sep 14. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21917783
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Anhydrous thallium hydrogen l-glutamate: polymer networks formed by sandwich layers of oxygen-coordinated thallium ions cores shielded by hydrogen l-glutamate counterions.
Bodner T, Wirnsberger B, Albering J, Wiesbrock F.
Dalton Trans. 2011 Nov 7;40(41):10885-8. Epub 2011 Sep 14.
PMID:
21915430
[PubMed - in process]
Biological safety of nasal thallium-201 administration: a preclinical study for olfacto-scintigraphy.
Washiyama K, Shiga H, Hirota K, Tsuchida A, Yamamoto J, Yagi S, Yoshizaki T, Furukawa M, Amano R, Miwa T.
J Radiat Res (Tokyo). 2011;52(4):450-5. doi: 10.1269/jrr.10153. No abstract available.
PMID:
21905306
[PubMed - in process]
Evaluation of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) in Inorganic and Organic Oilfield Scales from the Middle East.
Bassioni G, Abdulla F, Morsy Z, El-Faramawy N.
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2011 Sep 3. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21892762
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Non-invasive Evaluation of Internal Thoracic Artery Anastomosed to the Left Anterior Descending Artery with 320-Detector Row Computed Tomography and Adenosine Thallium-201 Myocardial Perfusion Scintigraphy.
Takagi Y, Akita K, Kondo H, Ishida M, Kaneko K, Sato M, Ando M.
Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2011 Aug 26. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21881340
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
The pathologic cascade of cerebrovascular lesions in SHRSP: is erythrocyte accumulation an early phase?
Schreiber S, Bueche CZ, Garz C, Kropf S, Angenstein F, Goldschmidt J, Neumann J, Heinze HJ, Goertler M, Reymann KG, Braun H.
J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2011 Aug 31. doi: 10.1038/jcbfm.2011.122. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21878945
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Head-to-head comparison of contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance and (201)Thallium single photon emission computed tomography for prediction of reversible left ventricular dysfunction in chronic ischaemic heart disease.
Regenfus M, Schlundt C, von Erffa J, Schmidt M, Reulbach U, Kuwert T, Daniel WG, Schmid M.
Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2011 Aug 28. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21874571
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Selective preconcentration of thallium species as chloro and iodo complexes on Chromosorb 105 resin prior to electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.
Karatepe A, Soylak M, Elçi L.
Talanta. 2011 Sep 30;85(4):1974-9. Epub 2011 Jul 18.
PMID:
21872046
[PubMed - in process]
Monte Carlo dose enhancement studies in microbeam radiation therapy.
Martínez-Rovira I, Prezadoa Y.
Med Phys. 2011 Jul;38(7):4430-9.
PMID:
21859044
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
The effects of chemical and radioactive properties of Tl-201 on human erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity.
Sahin A, Senturk M, Akkemik E, Ciftci M.
Nucl Med Biol. 2011 Aug 8. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21831653
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Comparison of myocardial perfusion imaging using thallium-201 between a new cadmium-zinc-telluride cardiac camera and a conventional SPECT camera.
Songy B, Lussato D, Guernou M, Queneau M, Geronazzo R.
Clin Nucl Med. 2011 Sep;36(9):776-80.
PMID:
21825848
[PubMed - in process] |
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