Deuterium has great development potential in the fields of nuclear energy and medicine, and has high development and utilization value.

Deuterium is one of the three stable isotopes of hydrogen, protium, deuterium, and tritium. The chemical symbol is D or 2H. There are 1 neutron and 1 proton in the nucleus. The atomic weight is twice that of ordinary light hydrogen. It is also called Deuterium. Deuterium is a colorless and odorless gas that is flammable and slightly soluble in water. Compared with ordinary hydrogen and protium, its chemical properties are more stable. Its oxide is heavy water with the chemical formula D2O, also known as deuterium oxide.

Deuterium mainly exists in the form of heavy water and is abundant in fresh water and seawater. The main preparation techniques for deuterium include electrolysis of heavy water, liquid hydrogen distillation, metal hydride method, etc. The heavy water electrolysis method uses heavy water as raw material in the presence of sodium, iron or sodium carbonate and is prepared by an electrolysis process. The equipment can be an ordinary water electrolysis device or an SPE electrolyzer. After heavy water is electrolyzed, deuterium will be produced at the cathode. Gas, and then through a purification process to remove impurities such as nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, high-purity deuterium can be obtained. The production process of electrolytic heavy water is easy to control and can be produced on a large scale. It is the main preparation method of deuterium.

According to the “2021-2025 Deuterium Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report” released by the Industrial Research Center, the downstream uses of deuterium Extensive, nuclear energy is one of its main application areas. Deuterium can be used in thermonuclear fusion reactions, which can release huge amounts of energy and can also form helium with a mass number of 3. It is a very promising energy source. Deuterium exists in the form of heavy water in seawater and is abundant on earth. The fuel deuterium required for thermonuclear fusion reactors can be extracted directly from seawater. The deuterium extracted from one liter of seawater is released after participating in the thermonuclear fusion reaction. The energy is equivalent to 300 liters of oil, and it has great potential for future development.

Isotopic labels are another important application market for deuterium. Through hydrogen replacement, deuterium can label chemicals and drugs without affecting the properties of chemicals and drugs. By tracking deuterium, you can understand the reaction process of chemicals and the metabolism of drugs in the human body. Deuterium-labeled drugs also have the advantages of long half-life, minimal side effects, and low metabolic burden. Taking advantage of these characteristics, deuterium can be used to make deuterium-labeled compounds, which has great application value in chemical research, biological research, disease diagnosis, drug manufacturing, etc.

In addition, deuterium can also be used in the military field to make hydrogen bombs, neutron bombs, laser weapons, etc.; it can be used as a light source, and the intensity of the ultraviolet light it emits is higher than the hydrogen light source; it can also be used in optical fiber cables, semiconductor manufacturing, etc. field.

Industry analysts said that in overseas markets, the main deuterium producers include Germany’s Linde Group, Germany’s Messer, and France’s Liquefaction Air Group, Sumitomo Chemical of Japan, Zeochem of Switzerland, SIAD of Italy, Cambridge CIL of the United States, MRC of the United States, Airgas of the United States, etc.; in the Chinese market, the main deuterium producers include Parite Gas, Rilin Technology, Walter Gas, etc.