Editing Antimony (section)

==Applications==
Approximately 48% of antimony is consumed in [[flame retardant]]s, 33% in [[Lead–acid battery|lead–acid batteries]], and 8% in plastics.<ref name=usgs2>{{cite web|url=https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/myb1-2017-antim.pdf|first1=Kateryna|last1=Klochko|date=2021|publisher=United States Geological Survey|title=2017 Minerals Yearbook: Antimony}}</ref>

=== Flame retardants ===

Antimony is mainly used as the [[antimony trioxide|trioxide]] for [[flame retardant|flame-proofing compounds]], always in combination with halogenated flame retardants except in halogen-containing polymers. The flame retarding effect of antimony trioxide is produced by the formation of halogenated antimony compounds,<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG9VFSBnIPAC&pg=PA61|chapter=Antimony trioxide and Related Compounds|title=Flame retardants for plastics and textiles: Practical applications|isbn=978-3-446-41652-9|last1=Weil|first1=Edward D.|last2=Levchik|first2=Sergei V.|date=4 June 2009|publisher=Hanser }}</ref><!--10.1016/S0141-3910(02)00067-8--> which react with hydrogen atoms, and probably also with oxygen atoms and OH radicals, thus inhibiting fire.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0010-2180(73)90006-0|title=Mass spectrometric studies of flame inhibition: Analysis of antimony trihalides in flames|date=1973|last1=Hastie|first1=John W.|journal=Combustion and Flame|volume=21|issue=1 |page=49|bibcode=1973CoFl...21...49H }}</ref> Markets for these flame-retardants include children's clothing, toys, aircraft, and automobile seat covers. They are also added to [[polyester resin]]s in [[glass-reinforced plastic|fiberglass]] [[composite material|composites]] for such items as light aircraft engine covers. The resin will burn in the presence of an externally generated flame, but will extinguish when the external flame is removed.<ref name="Ullmann">Grund, Sabina C.; Hanusch, Kunibert; Breunig, Hans J.; Wolf, Hans Uwe (2006) "Antimony and Antimony Compounds" in ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'', Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. {{doi|10.1002/14356007.a03_055.pub2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG9VFSBnIPAC&pg=PA15|pages=15–16|title=Flame retardants for plastics and textiles: Practical applications|isbn=978-3-446-41652-9|last1=Weil|first1=Edward D.|last2=Levchik|first2=Sergei V.|date=4 June 2009|publisher=Hanser }}</ref>

=== Alloys ===

Antimony forms a highly useful [[alloy]] with lead, increasing its hardness and mechanical strength. When casting it increases fluidity of the melt and reduces shrinkage during cooling.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Butterman |first1=W.C. |last2=Carlin, Jr. |first2=J.F. |year=2004 |title=Mineral Commodity Profiles - Antimony |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-019/of03-019.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324185146/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-019/of03-019.pdf |archive-date=24 March 2024 |access-date=18 July 2024 |website=U.S. Geological Survey}}</ref> For most applications involving lead, varying amounts of antimony are used as alloying metal. In [[lead–acid batteries]], this addition improves plate strength and charging characteristics.<ref name="Ullmann" /><ref>{{cite book|chapter=Types of Alloys|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HSsx9fPAKkC&pg=PA60|title=Battery Technology Handbook|first=Heinz Albert|last=Kiehne|publisher=CRC Press|date=2003|pages=60–61|isbn=978-0-8247-4249-2}}</ref> For sailboats, lead keels are used to provide righting moment, ranging from 600 lbs to over 200 tons for the largest sailing superyachts; to improve hardness and tensile strength of the lead keel, antimony is mixed with lead between 2% and 5% by volume. Antimony is used in antifriction alloys (such as [[Babbitt metal]]),<ref>{{cite book|pages=46–47|isbn=978-1-4067-4671-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KR82QRlAgUwC&pg=PA46|title=Principles of Metallography|last=Williams|first=Robert S.|publisher=Read books|date=2007}}</ref> in bullets and [[lead shot]], [[electrical cable]] sheathing, [[type metal]] (for example, for [[Linotype machine|linotype]] printing machines<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYZezyEvZ78C&pg=PA399|title=Inorganic Chemistry&nbsp;– A Textbook for Colleges and Schools|first=E. J.|last=Holmyard|date=2008|isbn=978-1-4437-2253-7|pages=399–400|publisher=Read Books }}</ref>), [[solder]] (some "[[RoHS|lead-free]]" solders contain 5% Sb),<ref>{{cite journal|first1=H.|last1=Ipser|first2=H.|last2=Flandorfer|first3=Ch.|last3=Luef|first4=C.|last4=Schmetterer|first5=U.|last5=Saeed|title=Thermodynamics and phase diagrams of lead-free solder materials|journal=Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics|volume=18|date=2007|doi=10.1007/s10854-006-9009-3|pages=3–17|issue=1–3 }}</ref> in [[pewter]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Hull|first=Charles|title=Pewter|publisher=Osprey Publishing|date=1992|isbn=978-0-7478-0152-8|pages=1–5}}</ref> and in hardening alloys with low [[tin]] content in the manufacturing of [[organ pipe]]s.

=== Other applications ===
[[File:InSb IR detector.jpg|thumb|upright|InSb infrared detector manufactured by [[Mullard]] in the 1960s]]
Three other applications consume nearly all the rest of the world's supply.<ref name=usgs2 /> One application is as a stabilizer and catalyst for the production of [[polyethylene terephthalate]].<ref name=usgs2 /> Another is as a fining agent to remove microscopic bubbles in glass, mostly for TV screens<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1002/14356007.a12_365|chapter=Glass|title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|date=2000|last1=De Jong|first1=Bernard H. W. S.|last2=Beerkens|first2=Ruud G. C.|last3=Van Nijnatten|first3=Peter A.|isbn=978-3-527-30673-2}}</ref> {{endash}} antimony ions interact with oxygen, suppressing the tendency of the latter to form bubbles.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Voltammetric Studies of Antimony Ions in Soda-lime-silica Glass Melts up to 1873 K|pmid=11993676|date=2001|last1=Yamashita|first1=H.|last2=Yamaguchi|first2=S.|last3=Nishimura|first3=R.|last4=Maekawa|first4=T.|volume=17|issue=1|pages=45–50|journal=Analytical Sciences|doi=10.2116/analsci.17.45|doi-access=free}}</ref> The third application is pigments.<ref name=usgs2 />

In the 1990s antimony was increasingly being used in [[semiconductor]]s as a [[dopant]] in [[N-type semiconductor|n-type]] [[silicon]] [[wafer (electronics)|wafers]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COcVgAtqeKkC&pg=PA473|page=473|title=Handbook of semiconductor silicon technology|first1=William C.|last1=O'Mara|first2=Robert B.|last2=Herring|first3=Lee Philip|last3=Hunt|publisher=William Andrew|date=1990|isbn=978-0-8155-1237-0}}</ref> for [[diode]]s, [[infrared]] detectors, and [[Hall effect|Hall-effect]] devices. In the 1950s, the emitters and collectors of n-p-n [[alloy junction transistor]]s were doped with tiny beads of a lead-antimony alloy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7fOlKRDcCkC&pg=PA101|page=101|title=Selected Works of Professor Herbert Kroemer|last=Maiti|first=C. K.|publisher=World Scientific, 2008|isbn=978-981-270-901-1|date=2008}}</ref> [[Indium antimonide]] (InSb) is used as a material for mid-[[infrared detector]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-qeJG1k2jwC&pg=PA68|page=68|title=Expanding the vision of sensor materials|isbn=978-0-309-05175-0|last1=Committee on New Sensor Technologies: Materials And Applications|first1=National Research Council (U.S.)|date=1995|publisher=National Academies Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBQCKN_GKhAC&pg=PA35|page=35|title=Fundamentals of infrared detector materials|isbn=978-0-8194-6731-7|author=Kinch, Michael A|date=2007|publisher=SPIE Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WR4_GzaAQM0C&pg=PA15|page=15|title=Infrared detectors|isbn=978-0-12-752105-3|author=Willardson, Robert K|author2=Beer, Albert C|name-list-style=amp|date=1970|publisher=Academic Press }}</ref>

The material {{chem2|Ge2Sb2Te5|link=GeSbTe}} is used as for [[phase-change memory]], a type of [[computer memory]].

Biology and medicine have few uses for antimony. Treatments containing antimony, known as [[antimonial]]s, are used as [[emetic]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Antimony's Curious History|first=Colin A.|last=Russell|jstor=532063|pages=115–116|volume=54|issue=1|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London|date=2000|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2000.0101|pmc=1064207}}</ref> Antimony compounds are used as [[antiprotozoal agent|antiprotozoan]] drugs. [[Potassium antimonyl tartrate]], or tartar emetic, was once used as an anti-[[schistosomiasis|schistosomal]] drug from 1919 on. It was subsequently replaced by [[praziquantel]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harder |first1=A |title=Chemotherapeutic approaches to schistosomes: current knowledge and outlook |journal=Parasitology Research |date=May 2002 |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=395–397 |doi=10.1007/s00436-001-0588-x |pmid=12049454 }}</ref> Antimony and its compounds are used in several [[veterinary]] preparations, such as [[anthiomaline]] and [[lithium antimony thiomalate]], as a skin conditioner in [[ruminant]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JAkOtJsGqiQC&pg=PA262|pages=262–265|title=Diseases of Warm Lands: A Clinical Manual|isbn=978-1-4102-0789-0|last1=Kassirsky|first1=I. A.|last2=Plotnikov|first2=N. N.|date=1 August 2003|publisher=The Minerva Group }}</ref> Antimony has a nourishing or conditioning effect on [[keratinized]] tissues in animals.

Antimony-based drugs, such as [[meglumine antimoniate]], are also considered the drugs of choice for treatment of [[leishmaniasis]]. Early treatments used antimony(III) species ([[trivalent antimonial]]s), but in 1922 [[Upendranath Brahmachari]] invented a much safer antimony(V) drug, and since then so-called [[pentavalent antimonial]]s have been the standard first-line treatment. However, ''[[Leishmania]]'' strains in [[Bihar]] and neighboring regions have developed resistance to antimony.<ref>{{cite book |title=Control of the leishmaniases: report of a meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on the Control of Leishmaniases, Geneva, 22-26 March 2010 |date=2010 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-120949-6 |page=1–2, 55, 67–68}}</ref> Elemental antimony as an [[antimony pill]] was once used as a medicine. It could be reused by others after ingestion and elimination.<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-1-85821-642-3|title=Antimony in medical history: an account of the medical uses of antimony and its compounds since early times to the present|author=McCallum, R. I.|publisher=Pentland Press|date=1999}}</ref><!--https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1044720/?page=1-->

[[Antimony(III) sulfide]] is used in the heads of some [[safety match]]es.<ref name="Trends">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyQrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50|publisher=National Academies|date=1970|author=National Research Council|title=Trends in usage of antimony: report|page=50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDhpLa1rl44C&pg=PT109|page=109|title=Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety: Chemical, industries and occupations|isbn=978-92-2-109816-4|author=Stellman, Jeanne Mager|date=1998|publisher=International Labour Organization }}</ref> Antimony sulfides help to stabilize the friction coefficient in automotive brake pad materials.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Wear|volume=239|issue=2|pages=229|date=2000|author=Jang, H|author2=Kim, S.|name-list-style=amp|title=The effects of antimony trisulfide (Sb<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>) and zirconium silicate (ZrSiO<sub>4</sub>) in the automotive brake friction material on friction|doi=10.1016/s0043-1648(00)00314-8}}</ref> Antimony is used in bullets, bullet tracers,<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0379-0738(02)00118-4|title=A metallurgical review of the interpretation of bullet lead compositional analysis|date=2002|last1=Randich|first1=Erik|last2=Duerfeldt|first2=Wayne|last3=McLendon|first3=Wade|last4=Tobin|first4=William|journal=Forensic Science International|volume=127|issue=3|pages=174–91|pmid=12175947 }}</ref> paint, glass art, and as an [[opacifier]] in [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]. [[Antimony-124]] is used together with [[beryllium]] in [[neutron source]]s; the [[gamma ray]]s emitted by antimony-124 initiate the [[photodisintegration]] of beryllium.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0022-3107(70)90058-4|title=The energy distribution of antimonyberyllium photoneutrons|date=1970|last1=Lalovic|first1=M.|journal=Journal of Nuclear Energy|volume=24|issue=3|page=123|bibcode=1970JNuE...24..123L|last2=Werle|first2=H.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KdmdcGbBywC&pg=PA51|page=51|title=Physics and engineering of radiation detection|isbn=978-0-12-045581-2|author=Ahmed, Syed Naeem|date=2007|publisher=Academic Press |bibcode=2007perd.book.....A}}</ref> The emitted neutrons have an average energy of 24&nbsp;keV.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0029-5582(60)90171-1|title=Determination of the energy of antimony-beryllium photoneutrons|date=1960|author=Schmitt, H|journal=Nuclear Physics|volume=20|page=220|bibcode=1960NucPh..20..220S}}</ref> Natural antimony is used in [[startup neutron source]]s.

The powder derived from crushed antimony sulfide (''[[Kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]]'') has been used for millennia as an eye cosmetic. Historically it was applied to the eyes with a metal rod and with one's [[spittle]], and was thought by the ancients to aid in curing eye infections.<ref>{{cite book |contribution=Rabbeinu Hananel's Commentary on Tractate Shabbat|title=Perushe Rabenu Ḥananʼel Bar Ḥushiʼel la-Talmud |last=Rabbeinu Hananel|author-link=Chananel ben Chushiel |publisher=Mekhon 'Lev Sameaḥ'|editor-last=Metzger|editor-first=David|place=Jerusalem|page=215 (Shabbat 109a) |year=1995 |language=he |oclc=319767989 }}</ref> The practice is still seen in [[Yemen]] and in other Muslim countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sunan an-Nasa'i 5113 – The Book of Adornment – كتاب الزينة من السنن – Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/nasai:5113|access-date=2021-02-18|website=sunnah.com}}</ref>