Month: September 2019

IYPT 2019 Elements 064: Gadolinium: MRI scanning, magnetic fridges and diamond simulant

Element 64 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is gadolinium. Gadolinium and its compounds are used in MRI imaging, magnetic refrigerators, and as diamond simulants. Solutions of gadolinium complexes are used as contrast agents to improve the quality of MRI images. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) allows the production of detailed images of …