Cobalt-chrome turbines, and many others. The common Co-Cr alloy production requires the extraction of cobalt and chromium from cobalt oxide and chromium oxide ores. Both of the ores need to go through reduction process to obtain pure metals. Chromium usually goes through aluminothermic reduction technique, and pure cobalt can be achieved through many different ways depending on the characteristics of the specific ore. Pure metals are then fused together under vacuum either by electric arc or by induction melting. Due to the chemical reactivity of metals at high temperature, the process requires vacuum conditions or inert atmosphere to prevent oxygen uptake
Cobalt stable cobalt isotope and the only isotope that exists naturally on Earth. Twenty-two radioisotopes have been characterized; the most stable, Co has a half-life of 5.2714 years, and Co has a half-life of 271.8 days, Co a half-life of 77.27 days, and Co a half-life of 70.86 days. All the other radioactive isotopes of cobalt have half-lives shorter than 18 hours, and in most cases shorter than 1 second. This element also has 4 meta states, all of which have half-lives shorter than 15 minutes. The isotopes of cobalt range in atomic weight from 50 u (Co) to 73 u