Antimony

Antimony is a shiny, silvery-gray metalloid, an element with properties between those of metals and nonmetals. Despite its metallic appearance, it is brittle rather than easy to bend. It occurs mainly in stibnite, a mineral in which antimony is combined with sulfur, although small amounts occur naturally as the pure element. Industrial extraction can involve heating the ore in air to form an oxide, then using carbon to remove the oxygen. Adding antimony to lead makes stronger, harder alloys used in some lead–acid battery plates. Its compound antimony trioxide has a different role: it works with other flame-retardant ingredients to help slow burning in plastics and textiles.