Vanadium combines with iron or aluminum to form commercially useful alloys. Vanadium strengthens iron and increases its resistance to heat. Ferrovanadium alloy also resist corrosion far more effectively than ordinary iron and steel. These properties make ferrovanadium alloys ideal for such applications as steel springs and tools. Vanadium alloys also serve as materials for jet engines and automobile parts, such as axles and gears. The principal vanadium compound used in the manufacture of vanadium alloys is vanadium pentoxide.
Photographic film tends to acquire an electrostatic charge, which attracts dust to the surface of the film. As a result, the quality of the photographs taken by the film suffers. Antistatic substances, such as vanadium pentoxide colloidal gel, dissipate these electrostatic charges when incorporated into the film coating. A colloid consists of small particles dispersed in a medium such as water. If the water dries out and the colloid remains dispersed in some solid medium, the result is a xerogel. This is what happens to colloidal vanadium pentoxide. When applied to films, it enters the film coating dispersed throughout its texture as a xerogel.
Vanadium pentoxide is one of the substances used in glass manufacture and the ceramics industry to impart color to their wares. Vanadium pentoxide alone gives glass a bright yellow tint. When added to tungsten, it modifies the normal tungsten blue into green. When incorporated as a colloidal gel, vanadium pentoxide distributes itself evenly throughout the glass matrix.
A catalyst is a substance that facilitates a chemical reaction but remains unchanged when the reaction is complete. Vanadium pentoxide serves as a catalyst in many chemical reactions, such as the production of sulfuric acid. In this reaction, vanadium pentoxide converts sulfur dioxide (SO2) into sulfur trioxide (SO3), which becomes sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the presence of water. Vanadium pentoxide temporarily loses an oxygen atom but regains it by the time the reaction is complete. Vanadium pentoxide also acts as a catalyst in the synthesis of maleic acid, adipic acid and phthalic anhydride.
Vanadium pentoxide serves as an intercalation compound in the cathode of rechargeable lithium batteries. Vanadium pentoxide is called an intercalation compound because it has spaces in which lithium ions reside until they leave to produce electricity and into which the lithium ions can insert themselves once more when the battery is recharged.
Dyes wash out of materials unless some substance called a mordant fixes the dyes so that they stay on the fabric. Vanadium pentoxide is one of the substances that can serve as a mordant.