/biz/ - Business & Finance

>In 2022, the major applications of tellurium were thin-film solar cells (40%), thermoelectrics (30%), metallurgy (15%), and rubber (5%), with the first two applications experiencing a rapid increase owing to the worldwide tendency of reducing dependence on the fossil fuel.[39][9] In metallurgy, tellurium is added to iron, stainless steel, copper, and lead alloys. It improves the machinability of copper without reducing its high electrical conductivity. It increases resistance to vibration and fatigue of lead and stabilizes various carbides and in malleable iron.[9]
> Synthetic rubber vulcanized with tellurium shows mechanical and thermal properties that in some ways are superior to sulfur-vulcanized materials.[57][56]
> Tellurium compounds are specialized pigments for ceramics.[22]
> Selenides and tellurides greatly increase the optical refraction of glass widely used in glass optical fibers for telecommunications.[58][59]
> Mixtures of selenium and tellurium are used with barium peroxide as an oxidizer in the delay powder of electric blasting caps.[60]
> Neutron bombardment of tellurium is the most common way to produce iodine-131.[61] This in turn is used to treat some thyroid conditions, and as a tracer compound in hydraulic fracturing, among other applications.
>Cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar panels exhibit some of the greatest efficiencies for solar cell electric power generators.[62]
>In 2018, China installed thin-film solar panels with a total power output of 175 GW, more than any other country in the world; most of those panels were made of CdTe.[9] In June 2022, China set goals of generating 25% of energy consumption and installing 1.2 billion kilowatts of capacity for wind and solar power by 2030. This proposal will increase the demand for tellurium and its production worldwide, especially in China, where the annual volumes of Te refining increased from 280 tonnes in 2017 to 340 tonnes in 2022.
Te chads are winning.