Editing Group 12 element (section)

==Applications==
Due to the physical similarities which they share, the group 12 elements can be found in many common situations. Zinc and cadmium are commonly used as [[anti-corrosion]] (galvanization) agents{{sfn|Greenwood|Earnshaw|1997|p=}} as they will attract all local [[oxidation]] until they completely corrode.{{sfn|Stwertka|1998|p={{pn|date=June 2020}}}} These protective coatings can be applied to other metals by [[hot-dip galvanizing]] a substance into the molten form of the metal,{{sfn|Emsley|2001|pp=499–505}} or through the process of [[electroplating]] which may be [[Passivation (chemistry)|passivated]] by the use of [[Monochromate|chromate]] salts.<ref name="fff"/> Group 12 elements are also used in [[electrochemistry]] as they may act as an alternative to the [[standard hydrogen electrode]] in addition to being a secondary reference electrode.<ref>{{cite book |title=Electrochemical Systems |last=Newman |first=John |year=2004 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=New Jersey |isbn=978-0-471-47756-3 }}</ref>

In the US, zinc is used predominantly for [[Galvanization|galvanizing]] (55%) and for [[brass]], [[bronze]] and other alloys (37%).<ref name="USGS-yb2006">{{cite web|title=Zinc: World Mine Production (zinc content of concentrate) by Country |url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/zinc/myb1-2009-zinc.pdf |work=2009 Minerals Yearbook: Zinc|publisher=United States Geological Survey|location=Washington, D.C. |date=February 2010|access-date=2010-06-06}}</ref>  The relative reactivity of zinc and its ability to attract oxidation to itself makes it an efficient [[sacrificial anode]] in [[cathodic protection]] (CP). For example, cathodic protection of a buried pipeline can be achieved by connecting anodes made from zinc to the pipe.{{sfn|Lehto|1968|p=829}} Zinc acts as the [[anode]] (negative terminus) by slowly corroding away as it passes electric current to the steel pipeline.{{sfn|Lehto|1968|p=829}}<ref group=note>Electric current will naturally flow between zinc and steel but in some circumstances inert anodes are used with an external DC source.</ref> Zinc is used to cathodically protect metals that are exposed to sea water from corrosion.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=A comparative study of the electrochemical behaviour of Algerian zinc and a zinc from a commercial sacrificial anode|first1=M.|last1=Bounoughaz |last2=Salhi |first2=E.|last3=Benzine |first3=K.|last4=Ghali|first4=E.|last5=Dalard|first5=F.|year=2003 |journal=Journal of Materials Science|volume=38|issue=6|pages=1139–1145 |doi=10.1023/A:1022824813564|bibcode=2003JMatS..38.1139B|s2cid=135744939}}</ref>{{sfn|Stwertka|1998|p=99}}
Zinc is used as an anode material for batteries such as in [[zinc–carbon battery|zinc–carbon batteries]]<ref>{{Cite book|first=Jürgen O.|last=Besenhard|title=Handbook of Battery Materials|access-date=2008-10-08 |publisher=Wiley-VCH|url=http://www.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/tocs/60178752.pdf|isbn=978-3-527-29469-5|year=1999|bibcode=1999hbm..book.....B}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/0378-7753(95)02242-2|year=1995|title=Recycling zinc batteries: an economical challenge in consumer waste management|first1=J.-P.|last1=Wiaux|last2=Waefler|first2=J.-P.|journal=Journal of Power Sources|volume=57|issue=1–2|pages=61–65|bibcode=1995JPS....57...61W}}</ref> or [[zinc–air battery]]/fuel cells.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Culter|first=T.|title=Southcon/96 Conference Record |chapter=A design guide for rechargeable zinc-air battery technology |doi=10.1109/SOUTHC.1996.535134 |isbn=978-0-7803-3268-3 |year=1996 |page=616|s2cid=106826667}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.electric-fuel.com/evtech/papers/paper11-1-98.pdf |title=Zinc Air Battery-Battery Hybrid for Powering Electric Scooters and Electric Buses|first1=Jonathan|last1=Whartman|last2=Brown |first2=Ian |publisher=The 15th International Electric Vehicle Symposium|access-date=2008-10-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312003601/http://www.electric-fuel.com/evtech/papers/paper11-1-98.pdf |archive-date=2006-03-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=A refuelable zinc/air battery for fleet electric vehicle propulsion|journal=NASA Sti/Recon Technical Report N|volume=96|pages=11394|last1=Cooper|first1=J. F. |last2=Fleming |first2=D.|last3=Hargrove|first3=D.|last4=Koopman|last5=R.|last6=Peterman|first6=K. |publisher=Society of Automotive Engineers future transportation technology conference and exposition |osti=82465|bibcode=1995STIN...9611394C |year=1995}}</ref>
A widely used alloy which contains zinc is brass, in which copper is alloyed with anywhere from 3% to 45% zinc, depending upon the type of brass.{{sfn|Lehto|1968|p=829}} Brass is generally more [[ductile]] and stronger than copper and has superior [[corrosion resistance]].{{sfn|Lehto|1968|p=829}} These properties make it useful in communication equipment, hardware, musical instruments, and water valves.{{sfn|Lehto|1968|p=829}} Other widely used alloys that contain zinc include [[nickel silver]], typewriter metal, soft and aluminium [[solder]], and commercial [[bronze]].<ref name="CRCp4-41"/> Alloys of primarily zinc with small amounts of copper, aluminium, and magnesium are useful in [[die casting]] as well as [[spin casting]], especially in the automotive, electrical, and hardware industries.<ref name="CRCp4-41"/> These alloys are marketed under the name [[Zamak]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eazall.com/diecastalloys.aspx |title=Diecasting Alloys|publisher=Eastern Alloys|access-date=2009-01-19|location=Maybrook, NY}}</ref> Roughly one quarter of all zinc output in the United States (2009) is consumed in the form of zinc compounds, a variety of which are used industrially.<ref name="USGS-yb2006"/>

Cadmium has many common industrial uses as it is a key component in battery production, is present in [[cadmium pigments]],<ref name="colors">{{cite book|last1=Buxbaum|first1=Gunter|last2=Pfaff|first2=Gerhard|chapter=Cadmium Pigments|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OrB0ew_HgAC&pg=PA121|pages=121–123|isbn=978-3-527-30363-2|publisher=Wiley-VCH|year=2005|title=Industrial inorganic pigments}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> coatings,<ref name="fff">{{cite web |url=http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public//PubFulltext/RTO/MP/RTO-MP-025///MP-025-15.pdf |title=Advances to Protective Coatings and their Application to Ageing Aircraft |author1=Smith, C.J.E. |author2=Higgs, M.S. |author3=Baldwin, K.R. |date=April 20, 1999 |publisher=RTO MP-25 |access-date=May 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105705/http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public//PubFulltext/RTO/MP/RTO-MP-025///MP-025-15.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> and is commonly used in electroplating.<ref name="HgCdPb"/> In 2009, 86% of cadmium was used in [[Battery (electricity)|batteries]], predominantly in [[rechargeable battery|rechargeable]] [[nickel-cadmium battery|nickel-cadmium batteries]]. The European Union banned the use of cadmium in electronics in 2004 with several exceptions but reduced the allowed content of cadmium in electronics to 0.002%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battery collection; recycling, nature protected|publisher=[[European Union]] |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+IM-PRESS+20060628BRI09328+FULL-TEXT+DOC+XML+V0//EN|access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref> Cadmium [[electroplating]], consuming 6% of the global production,  can be found in the aircraft industry due to the ability to resist [[corrosion]] when applied to steel components.<ref name="HgCdPb">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yzN-QGag_8C|title=Mercury, Cadmium, Lead: Handbook for Sustainable Heavy Metals Policy and Regulation|first1=Michael J.|last1=Scoullos|last2=Vonkeman|first2=Gerrit H.|last3=Thornton |first3=Iain |last4=Makuch|first4=Zen|publisher=Springer|year=2001|isbn=978-1-4020-0224-3}}</ref>

Mercury is used primarily for the manufacture of industrial chemicals or for electrical and electronic applications. It is used in some thermometers, especially ones which are used to measure high temperatures. A still increasing amount is used as gaseous mercury in [[fluorescent lamps]],<ref>{{cite book|title = A guide to the use and calibration of detector array equipment|author1=Hopkinson, G. R. |author2=Goodman, T. M. |author3=Prince, S. R. | publisher = SPIE Press| year = 2004| page = 125| isbn = 978-0-8194-5532-1|bibcode=2004gucd.book.....H }}</ref>  while most of the other applications are slowly phased out due to health and safety regulations,<ref>{{cite news| title = Mercury Reduction Act of 2003|url =https://openlibrary.org/b/OL17617678M|access-date = 2009-06-06| publisher = United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works}}</ref> and is in some applications replaced with less toxic but considerably more expensive [[Galinstan]] alloy.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s00216-005-0069-7|date=Nov 2005|author1=Surmann, P. |author2=Zeyat, H. |title=Voltammetric analysis using a self-renewable non-mercury electrode|volume=383|issue=6|pages=1009–13|pmid=16228199|journal=Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry|s2cid=22732411}}</ref> Mercury and its compounds have been used in medicine, although they are much less common today than they once were, now that the toxic effects of mercury and its compounds are more widely understood.<ref>{{cite web|author = FDA|url =https://www.fda.gov/Cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20011030175538/http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm|url-status =dead|archive-date =October 30, 2001|title = Thimerosal in Vaccines|website =[[Food and Drug Administration]]|access-date=October 25, 2006}}</ref> It is still used as an ingredient in [[amalgam (dentistry)|dental amalgams]]. In the late 20th century the largest use of mercury<ref>{{cite journal|title=The CRB Commodity Yearbook (annual)|journal= The CRB Commodity Yearbook|year= 2000|page=173|issn=1076-2906}}</ref><ref name="USEPA">{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r02104/600r02104chap3.pdf|author=Leopold, B. R.|year=2002|title=Chapter 3: Manufacturing Processes Involving Mercury. ''Use and Release of Mercury in the United States''|publisher=National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio|access-date=May 1, 2007 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070621093346/http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r02104/600r02104chap3.pdf |archive-date = June 21, 2007}}</ref> was in the mercury cell process (also called the [[Castner-Kellner process]]) in the production of [[chlorine]] and [[caustic soda]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurochlor.org/animations/mercury-cell.asp |title=Chlorine Online Diagram of mercury cell process |publisher=Euro Chlor |access-date=2012-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918011944/http://www.eurochlor.org/animations/mercury-cell.asp |archive-date=September 18, 2011 }}</ref>

Copernicium has no use other than research due to its very high radioactivity.