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Impact of Factors on Remediation of Miscellaneous (Fe, Cs) and Nontoxic Elements (Sc, Ti, Ga, Ge) Via Batch Adsorption Process
Published in Deepak Gusain, Faizal Bux, Batch Adsorption Process of Metals and Anions for Remediation of Contaminated Water, 2021
Deepak Gusain, Shikha Dubey, Yogesh Chandra Sharma, Faizal Bux
Germanium has no known toxicity toward human beings, but being effective against bacteria, it has been utilized in many fields such as electronics and infrared spectroscopy (RSC 2020f; Cui et al. 2016). An overview of the experimental parameters and optimized conditions from batch adsorption experiments for germanium is presented in Table 5.2.
Elemental Semiconductors
Published in Lev I. Berger, Semiconductor Materials, 2020
The main application of germanium is in the semiconductor industry, but there are some other important uses, such as a catalyst, a phosphor in fluorescent lamps, and an infrared Alter. GeO2 is useful as a component of glass for microscope objectives and wide-angled camera lenses. Since the successful development in the silicon industry, the field of organ-ogermanium chemistry has extensively grown. Some interesting applications of organoger-manium compounds are connected with their chemotherapeutic effects.
Heavy Metals
Published in Abhik Gupta, Heavy Metal and Metalloid Contamination of Surface and Underground Water, 2020
Germanium (Ge) with an atomic number of 32, an atomic mass of 72.640, and a density of 5.32 g cm–3 is a silvery-white, brittle metalloid. Most of the germanium today is extracted from the zinc ore sphalerite. Germanite or copper iron germanium sulfide [CuS·FeS·GeS2] and argyrodite or silver germanium sulfide (Ag8GeS6) are the other important but rare ores containing germanium. Germanium is a semiconductor and was earlier used as a transistor after doping with arsenic and gallium. Currently, the major use of germanium is in camera and microscope lenses. Elemental germanium and germanium oxide are used in infrared spectroscopes. It is also used as an alloying agent (Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety 2012).
Response to comment on “A review of public and environmental consequences of organic germanium”
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2023
Gerber and Léonard concluded that quasi-metallic germanium has been widely used in electronics, nuclear science, and medicine. With the exception of tetrahydrogermanane, germanium has a low general toxicity and there are few observations of germanium toxicity in humans. Germanium is not a carcinogen and even appears to inhibit the development of cancer and destroy cancer cells in the form of the organogermanium compound spirogermanium. Germanium compounds have no mutagenic activity and under certain conditions may inhibit the mutagenic activity of other substances. High doses of germanium may result in increased embryonic uptake, but possible malformations have been reported only after administration of dimethylgermanium oxide to pregnant animals. Therefore, germanium may be considered to be of minimal risk to humans (Gerber & Léonard, 1997).
A review of public and environmental consequences of organic germanium
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2020
Jiangfu Zheng, Lihua Yang, Yaocheng Deng, Chenyu Zhang, Yang Zhang, Sheng Xiong, Chunxia Ding, Jia Zhao, Chanjuan Liao, Daoxin Gong
In 1871, Mendeleev predicted the existence of germanium and named it as ecka silicon. Subsequently in 1886, more than a decade later, the German chemist Winkler discovered cockroaches in the sulfur silver samarium deposit (Haller, 2006; Keith, Faroon, Maples Reynolds, & Fowler, 2015; Moskalyk, 2004; Winkler, 1886). For now, Germanium is considered as an element with typical physical and chemical characteristics. Germanium is an attractive element with unique physical and chemical properties (McVey, Prabakar, Gooding, & Tilley, 2017), it has excellent semiconductor properties but many properties similar to those of nonmetals, which are chemically called submetallic. The physical and chemical properties of germanium make them ideal for solution synthesis (Ruddy, Johnson, Smith, & Neale, 2010), surface passivation (Buriak, 2002; Guo, Rowland, Schaller, & Vela, 2014), photoelectric detector (Michel, Liu, & Kimerling, 2010) and solar cell applications (Fthenakis, 2009).
A Review on Germanium Resources and its Extraction by Hydrometallurgical Method
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 2021
Thi Hong Nguyen, Man Seung Lee
Generally, a process consisting of leaching and some hydrometallurgical treatments (precipitation, membrane, cementation, ion exchange and solvent extraction) was employed in extraction process of germanium. Since leaching and hydrometallurgical treatments were reviewed in detail in above section, the present section will focus on extraction processes containing leaching and few hydrometallurgical treatments for the recovery of germanium from main germanium-bearing resources.