Cobalt sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula CoSO₄. It is the divalent cobalt

Cobalt

Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....

 salt of sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...

. The most common form of cobalt sulfate are the hydrates CoSO₄^.7H₂O and CoSO₄^.H₂O. Cobalt(II) sulfate and its hydrates are some of the most commonly available salts of cobalt.

Properties

Cobalt(II) sulfate appears as red monoclinic crystals that melt around 100 °C and become anhydrous at 250 °C. It is soluble in water, slightly soluble in ethanol, and especially soluble in methanol

Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

. It forms by the reaction of metallic cobalt, its oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate with sulfuric acid. Cobalt is obtained from ores via the sulfate in some cases.

Uses

Cobalt(II) sulfate is used in the preparation of pigment

Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...

s, as well as in the manufacture of other cobalt salts. Cobalt pigment is used in porcelains and glass. Cobalt(II) sulfate is used in storage batteries

Battery (electricity)

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

 and electroplating

Electroplating

Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...

 baths, sympathetic inks, and as an additive to soils and animal feeds.

Health issues

Cobalt(II) sulfate has been shown to be toxic and slightly carcinogenic upon inhalation in mice. It has also been shown to be a mutagen

Mutagen

In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are therefore also likely to be carcinogens...

 in salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...

.

It was added to the list of substances of very high concern

Substance of very high concern

A substance of very high concern is a chemical substance for which it has been proposed that the use within the European Union be subject to authorisation under the REACH Regulation...

 in the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

on 15 December 2010.