Talk:Germanium
Article changed over to new Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements format by maveric149. Elementbox converted 13:28, 1 July 2005 by Femto (previous revision was that of 17:38, 14 June 2005).
Information Sources
Some of the text in this entry was rewritten from Los Alamos National Laboratory - Germanium. Additional text was taken directly from USGS Germanium Statistics and Information, from the Elements database 20001107 (via dict.org), Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (via dict.org) and WordNet (r) 1.7 (via dict.org). Data for the table was obtained from the sources listed on the main page and Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements but was reformatted and converted into SI units.
Talk
From the Applications section: "While germanium has been claimed as an attractive nutritional supply, " Perhaps supply should be replaced with supplement. [edit]
Actually, this entire statement is a fallacy. One of the greatest misconceptions in the alternative health/medical community is regarding the alleged dangers of germanium ingestion. Anyone conducting thorough research regarding organic germanium (online would be sufficient) will soon discover several truths:
1. The only viable form of germanium for ingestion is organic Germanium-132, otherwise known as Germanium Sesquioxide, and is found naturally in ginseng, aloe, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms. 2. Other forms of germanium are indeed toxic and should not be consumed, but Germanium-132 (a naturally occurring mineral) should not be confused with elemental germanium (Ge). 3. The purported ill health effects and deaths occurred because certain unscrupulous manufacturers imported a cheap grade of so-called organic germanium from Asia that had been "cut" with other types of germanium (either by accident due to ignorance or design due to greed) to increase profit. 4. The only "germanium" dietary supplements that are safe for human consumption are those from U.S. manufacturers and are clearly labeled Germanium-132 "certified organic" and clearly describe a point of origin. 5. The FDA intervened in the previous case involving death and its custom agents have continued to restrict the importation of germanium into the country even while some of their own chemists have pointed out the error of incorrectly misidentified Germanium-132 as being similar or "the same thing" as other types of germanium. However, the two are completely different substances! 6. The vast majority of references to the "dangers of germanium" in scientific literature all, to this day, cite a study of years ago wherein the researcher mistakenly lumped organic Ge-132 along with all forms of germanium, including the non-organic or toxic variety. 7. Even though this prominent researcher later redacted his findings, the disparity continues to be erroneously replicated to this day out of ignorance. 8. A host of clinical studies have demonstrated the reduction of cancerous tumors in animals ingesting organic Germanium-132, and not one single death has ever been attributed to the consumption of this type.
Do not be confused. Truly organic Germanium-132 (safe for human consumption even in large amounts) is NOT the same thing as elemental Germanium (GE).
Electrical conductivity units are incorrect
Instead of Ohm it should be Ohm-m or Ohm-cm or somesuch. (209.239.242.30) (ancient comment, done) Femto 11:42, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
Germanium in very small trace amounts may cure cancer
Germanium has shown no less than 'miraculous' results in fighting cancer. In Japan, germanium has been used to help treat cancer for the past 30 years. Yet it has only been recently that the exact mechanism by which it works to tackle cancer has been uncovered.
Researchers found that germanium reduces the spread of cancer by slowing down the process that causes cancer cells to multiply. At the same time, the researchers observed that germanium didn't interfere with normal, healthy cells, which were left alone to grow and carry out their functions as nature intended (Chun Hua Yen 2000, 36(4):263-266).
Two years ago, a case study confounded many scientists and other members of the medical profession. It involved a patient suffering from a very rare and highly malignant form of lung cancer, called spindle cell carcinoma. Even with radical surgery, combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, only a small percentage of patients with this condition live more than a couple of years.
This particular patient had shown no initial response to any of the conventional treatments, and decided to take germanium supplements as a last resort instead. Doctors were astounded to find that even after four years, X-rays showed that the patient was completely free of cancer and that the disease didn't return (Chest 2000, 117(2):591-593).
Germanium has been suggested to be used as a semiconductor here, but there are little or no properties relevent to semiconductors listed in the tables at the side (or in the document). I think it would be a good idea to make properties such as mobility, band gap, etc. part of the general template for semiconductor materials on wikipedia.
Ge-76 incorrectly listed as stable
Ge-76 can decay via double beta decay.
"Standard" double beta decay with emission of two neutrinos has been reported by the Heidelberg-Moscow experiment (see http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/ but beware - horrible homepage). Journal reference: Eur.Phys.J.A12:147-154,2001 but also available as eprint, e.g. http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0103062 . The half-life is very long, though, about 1.55 \pm 0.2 \times 10^{25} years.
Mentioning that Ge-76 is currently the isotope in focus in the search neutrinoless double beta decay might be a good idea - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrinoless_double_beta_decay
I am new to Wikipedia and did not dare to just change the page. Sorry... 80.145.0.52 00:33, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
The 10^25 half-life seems to be refering to the not-clearly-observed neutrinoless double beta decay, and should be considered only as a lower limit. The ordinary double beta decay half life is listed (if I understand it correctly) as 1.78 x 10^21 years here: http://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-ex/0309016. From looking at a graph, the decay energy looks to be about 0.7 Mev, but I'm leaving that blank in the table since I can't find it written out anywhere.
Germanium whiskers
Article should mention "germanium whiskers" (screw dislocations) that grow in germanium, and that these are the primary cause of failure in electronics containing pure germanium. linas 03:33, 11 March 2007 (UTC)