Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, somewhat brittle, gray metal. Cobalt-based blue pigments (cobalt blue) have been used since antiquity ...
What is Cobalt Cobalt (pronunciation: KO-bolt) is a hard, lustrous silvery-blue element belonging to the group of transition metals, and it is represented by the chemical symbol Co [1, 2, 3]. It is chemically active and can form many compounds [4]. It is a ferromagnetic metal that can be magnetized and is alloyed with nickel and aluminum to produce powerful magnets [1, 4].
The isotope cobalt-60 (60 Co) is an artificially produced isotope used as a source of γ rays (its high energy radiation is useful for sterilisation in medicine and of foods). Cobalt salts colour glass a beautiful deep blue colour. Cobalt compounds are important catalysts in a number of industrial processes.