Cobalt(II) carbonate Like most transition metal carbonates, cobalt carbonate is insoluble in water, but is readily attacked by mineral acids: Cobalt carbonate is a precursor to cobalt carbonyl and various cobalt salts. It is a component of dietary supplements since cobalt is an essential element. It is a precursor to blue pottery glazes, famously in the case of Delftware. The moderately rare spherocobaltite is the natural form of cobalt carbonate, with good specimens coming especially from the Republic of Congo. "Cobaltocalcite" is a name used for a cobaltiferous calcite variety that is quite similar in habit to spherocobaltite. The compound is harmful
Chemical element more than one way, allowing the pure element to exist in multiple chemical structures (spatial arrangements of atoms), known as allotropes, which differ in their properties. For example, carbon can be found as diamond, which has a tetrahedral structure around each carbon atom; graphite, which has layers of carbon atoms with a hexagonal structure stacked on top of each other; graphene, which is a single layer of graphite that is very strong; fullerenes, which have nearly spherical shapes; and carbon nanotubes, which are tubes with a hexagonal structure (even these may differ from each other in electrical properties). The ability