Tellurium Industrial and Commercial Use

Tellurium has many unique industrial and commercial uses that improve product quality and quality-of-life. Many of these technologies that utilize tellurium have important uses for the energy industry, the military, and health industries. Tellurium is used to color glass and ceramics and can improve the machining quality of metal products. When added to copper alloys, tellurium makes the alloy more ductile, whereas it can prevent corrosion in lead products. Tellurium is an important component of infrared detectors used by the military as well as x-ray detectors used by a variety of fields including medicine, science, and security. In addition, tellurium-based catalysts are used to produce higher-quality rubber. CdTe films are one of the highest efficiency photovoltaics, metals that convert sunlight directly into electrical power, at 11-13% efficiency and are, therefore, widely used in solar panels. CdTe is a thin-film semiconductor that absorbs sunlight.

Tellurium can be replaced by other elements in some of its uses. For many metallurgical uses, selenium , bismuth , or lead are effective substitutes. Both selenium and sulfur can replace tellurium in rubber production. Technologies based on tellurium have global impacts. As a photovoltaic, CdTe is the second most utilized solar cell in the world, soon said to surpass crystalline silicon and become the first. According to the US military, the tellurium-based infrared detectors are the reason that the military has such an advantage at night, an advantage which, in turn, has an effect on global and domestic politics.