Yttrium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pronunciation | /ˈɪtriəm/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearance | silvery white | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Y) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yttrium in the periodic table | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Atomic number (Z) | 39 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group | group 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Period | period 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Block | d-block | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electron configuration | [ Kr ] 4d1 5s2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrons per shell | 2, 8, 18, 9, 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Physical properties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phase at STP | solid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Melting point | 1799 K (1526 °C,2779 °F) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boiling point | 3203 K(2930 °C,5306 °F) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Density (at 20° C) | 4.469 g/cm3 [3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
when liquid (at m.p.) | 4.24 g/cm3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Heat of fusion | 11.42 kJ/mol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Heat of vaporization | 363 kJ/mol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Molar heat capacity | 26.53 J/(mol·K) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vapor pressure
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Atomic properties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oxidation states | common: +3 0, [4] +1, ? +2 [5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electronegativity | Pauling scale: 1.22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ionization energies |
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Atomic radius | empirical:180 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Covalent radius | 190±7 pm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spectral lines of yttrium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other properties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Natural occurrence | primordial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crystal structure | hexagonal close-packed (hcp)(hP2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lattice constants | a = 364.83 pm c = 573.17 pm (at 20 °C) [3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thermal expansion | 11.21×10−6/K (at 20 °C) [3] [a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thermal conductivity | 17.2 W/(m⋅K) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrical resistivity | α, poly: 596 nΩ⋅m(at r.t.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Magnetic ordering | paramagnetic [6] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Molar magnetic susceptibility | +2.15×10−6 cm3/mol(2928 K) [7] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Young's modulus | 63.5 GPa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shear modulus | 25.6 GPa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulk modulus | 41.2 GPa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Speed of sound thin rod | 3300 m/s(at 20 °C) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Poisson ratio | 0.243 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brinell hardness | 200–589 MPa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CAS Number | 7440-65-5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Naming | after Ytterby (Sweden) and its mineral ytterbite (gadolinite) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discovery | Johan Gadolin (1794) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First isolation | Friedrich Wöhler (1838) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Isotopes of yttrium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yttrium is a chemical element; it has symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a "rare-earth element". [8] Yttrium is almost always found in combination with lanthanide elements in rare-earth minerals and is never found in nature as a free element. 89Y is the only stable isotope and the only isotope found in the Earth's crust.
The most important present-day use of yttrium is as a component of phosphors, especially those used in LEDs. Historically, it was once widely used in the red phosphors in television set cathode ray tube displays. [9] Yttrium is also used in the production of electrodes, electrolytes, electronic filters, lasers, superconductors, various medical applications, and tracing various materials to enhance their properties.
Yttrium has no known biological role. Exposure to yttrium compounds can cause lung disease in humans. [10]
The element is named after ytterbite , a mineral first identified in 1787 by the chemist Carl Axel Arrhenius. He named the mineral after the village of Ytterby, in Sweden, where it had been discovered. When one of the chemicals in ytterbite was later found to be a previously unidentified element, the element was then named yttrium after the mineral.
Yttrium is a soft, silver-metallic, lustrous and highly crystalline transition metal in group 3. As expected by periodic trends, it is less electronegative than its predecessor in the group, scandium, and less electronegative than the next member of period 5, zirconium. However, due to the lanthanide contraction, it is also less electronegative than its successor in the group, lutetium. [11] [12] [13] Yttrium is the first d-block element in the fifth period.
The pure element is relatively stable in air in bulk form, due to passivation of a protective oxide (Y
2O
3) film that forms on the surface. This film can reach a thickness of 10 μm when yttrium is heated to 750 °C in water vapor. [14] When finely divided, however, yttrium is very unstable in air; shavings or turnings of the metal can ignite in air at temperatures exceeding 400 °C. [15] Yttrium nitride (YN) is formed when the metal is heated to 1000 °C in nitrogen. [14]
The similarities of yttrium to the lanthanides are so strong that the element has been grouped with them as a rare-earth element, [8] and is always found in nature together with them in rare-earth minerals. [16] Chemically, yttrium resembles those elements more closely than its neighbor in the periodic table, scandium, [17] and if physical properties were plotted against atomic number, it would have an apparent number of 64.5 to 67.5, placing it between the lanthanides gadolinium and erbium. [18]
It often also falls in the same range for reaction order, [14] resembling terbium and dysprosium in its chemical reactivity. [9] Yttrium is so close in size to the so-called 'yttrium group' of heavy lanthanide ions that in solution, it behaves as if it were one of them. [14] [19] Even though the lanthanides are one row farther down the periodic table than yttrium, the similarity in atomic radius may be attributed to the lanthanide contraction. [20]
One of the few notable differences between the chemistry of yttrium and that of the lanthanides is that yttrium is almost exclusively trivalent, whereas about half the lanthanides can have valences other than three; nevertheless, only for four of the fifteen lanthanides are these other valences important in aqueous solution (CeIV, SmII, EuII, and YbII). [14]
As a trivalent transition metal, yttrium forms various inorganic compounds, generally in the +3 oxidation state, by giving up all three of its valence electrons. [21] A good example is yttrium(III) oxide (Y
2O
3), also known as yttria, a six-coordinate white solid. [22]
Yttrium forms a water-insoluble fluoride, hydroxide, and oxalate, but its bromide, chloride, iodide, nitrate and sulfate are all soluble in water. [14] The Y3+ ion is colorless in solution due to the absence of electrons in the d and f electron shells. [14]
Water readily reacts with yttrium and its compounds to form Y
2O
3. [16] Concentrated nitric and hydrofluoric acids do not rapidly attack yttrium, but other strong acids do. [14]
With halogens, yttrium forms trihalides such as yttrium(III) fluoride (YF
3), yttrium(III) chloride (YCl
3), and yttrium(III) bromide (YBr
3) at temperatures above roughly 200 °C. [10] Similarly, carbon, phosphorus, selenium, silicon and sulfur all form binary compounds with yttrium at elevated temperatures. [14]
Organoyttrium chemistry is the study of compounds containing carbon–yttrium bonds. A few of these are known to have yttrium in the oxidation state 0. [4] [23] (The +2 state has been observed in chloride melts, [24] and +1 in oxide clusters in the gas phase. [25] ) Some trimerization reactions were generated with organoyttrium compounds as catalysts. [23] These syntheses use YCl
3 as a starting material, obtained from Y
2O
3 and concentrated hydrochloric acid and ammonium chloride. [26] [27]
Hapticity is a term to describe the coordination of a group of contiguous atoms of a ligand bound to the central atom; it is indicated by the Greek letter eta, η. Yttrium complexes were the first examples of complexes where carboranyl ligands were bound to a d0-metal center through a η7-hapticity. [23] Vaporization of the graphite intercalation compounds graphite–Y or graphite–Y
2O
3 leads to the formation of endohedral fullerenes such as Y@C82. [9] Electron spin resonance studies indicated the formation of Y3+ and (C82)3− ion pairs. [9] The carbides Y3C, Y2C, and YC2 can be hydrolyzed to form hydrocarbons. [14]
Yttrium in the Solar System was created by stellar nucleosynthesis, mostly by the s-process (≈72%), but also the r-process (≈28%). [28] The r-process consists of rapid neutron capture by lighter elements during supernova explosions. The s-process is a slow neutron capture of lighter elements inside pulsating red giant stars. [29]
Yttrium isotopes are among the most common products of the nuclear fission of uranium in nuclear explosions and nuclear reactors. In the context of nuclear waste management, the most important isotopes of yttrium are 91Y and 90Y, with half-lives of 58.51 days and 64 hours, respectively. [30] Though 90Y has a short half-life, it exists in secular equilibrium with its long-lived parent isotope, strontium-90 (90Sr) (half-life 29 years). [15]
All group 3 elements have an odd atomic number, and therefore few stable isotopes. [11] Scandium has one stable isotope, and yttrium itself has only one stable isotope, 89Y, which is also the only isotope that occurs naturally. However, the lanthanide rare earths contain elements of even atomic number and many stable isotopes. Yttrium-89 is thought to be more abundant than it otherwise would be, due in part to the s-process, which allows enough time for isotopes created by other processes to decay by electron emission (neutron → proton). [29] [b] Such a slow process tends to favor isotopes with atomic mass numbers (A = protons + neutrons) around 90, 138 and 208, which have unusually stable atomic nuclei with 50, 82, and 126 neutrons, respectively. [29] [c] This stability is thought to result from their very low neutron-capture cross-section. [29] Electron emission of isotopes with those mass numbers is simply less prevalent due to this stability, resulting in them having a higher abundance. [15] 89Y has a mass number close to 90 and has 50 neutrons in its nucleus.
At least 32 synthetic isotopes of yttrium have been observed, and these range in atomic mass number from 76 to 108. [30] The least stable of these is 109Y with a half-life of 25 ms and the most stable is 88Y with half-life 106.629 days. [31] Apart from 91Y, 87Y, and 90Y, with half-lives of 58.51 days, 79.8 hours, and 64 hours, respectively; all other isotopes have half-lives of less than a day and most of less than an hour. [30]
Yttrium isotopes with mass numbers at or below 88 decay mainly by positron emission (proton → neutron) to form strontium (Z = 38) isotopes. [30] Yttrium isotopes with mass numbers at or above 90 decay mainly by electron emission (neutron → proton) to form zirconium (Z = 40) isotopes. [30] Isotopes with mass numbers at or above 97 are also known to have minor decay paths of β− delayed neutron emission. [32]
Yttrium has at least 20 metastable ("excited") isomers ranging in mass number from 78 to 102. [30] [d] Multiple excitation states have been observed for 80Y and 97Y. [30] While most yttrium isomers are expected to be less stable than their ground state; 78m, 84m, 85m, 96m, 98m1, 100m, 102mY have longer half-lives than their ground states, as these isomers decay by beta decay rather than isomeric transition. [32]
In 1787, part-time chemist Carl Axel Arrhenius found a heavy black rock in an old quarry near the Swedish village of Ytterby (now part of the Stockholm Archipelago). [33] Thinking it was an unknown mineral containing the newly discovered element tungsten, [34] he named it ytterbite [e] and sent samples to various chemists for analysis. [33]
Johan Gadolin at the University of Åbo identified a new oxide (or "earth") in Arrhenius' sample in 1789, and published his completed analysis in 1794. [35] [f] Anders Gustaf Ekeberg confirmed the identification in 1797 and named the new oxide yttria. [36] In the decades after Antoine Lavoisier developed the first modern definition of chemical elements, it was believed that earths could be reduced to their elements, meaning that the discovery of a new earth was equivalent to the discovery of the element within, which in this case would have been yttrium. [g] [37] [38] [39]
Friedrich Wöhler is credited with first isolating the metal in 1828 by reacting a volatile chloride that he believed to be yttrium chloride with potassium. [40] [41] [42]
In 1843, Carl Gustaf Mosander found that samples of yttria contained three oxides: white yttrium oxide (yttria), yellow terbium oxide (confusingly, this was called 'erbia' at the time) and rose-colored erbium oxide (called 'terbia' at the time). [43] [44] A fourth oxide, ytterbium oxide, was isolated in 1878 by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac. [45] New elements were later isolated from each of those oxides, and each element was named, in some fashion, after Ytterby, the village near the quarry where they were found (see ytterbium, terbium, and erbium). [46] In the following decades, seven other new metals were discovered in "Gadolin's yttria". [33] Since yttria was found to be a mineral and not an oxide, Martin Heinrich Klaproth renamed it gadolinite in honor of Gadolin. [33]
Until the early 1920s, the chemical symbol Yt was used for the element, after which Y came into common use. [47] [48]
In 1987, yttrium barium copper oxide was found to achieve high-temperature superconductivity. [49] It was only the second material known to exhibit this property, [49] and it was the first-known material to achieve superconductivity above the (economically important) boiling point of nitrogen. [h]
Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals, [12] and some uranium ores, but never in the Earth's crust as a free element. [50] About 31 ppm of the Earth's crust is yttrium, [9] making it the 43rd most abundant element. [51] : 615 Yttrium is found in soil in concentrations between 10 and 150 ppm (dry weight average of 23 ppm) and in sea water at 9 ppt. [51] Lunar rock samples collected during the American Apollo Project have a relatively high content of yttrium. [46]
Yttrium is not considered a "bone-seeker" like strontium and lead. [52] Normally, as little as 0.5 milligrams (0.0077 gr) is found in the entire human body; human breast milk contains 4 ppm. [53] Yttrium can be found in edible plants in concentrations between 20 ppm and 100 ppm (fresh weight), with cabbage having the largest amount. [53] With as much as 700 ppm, the seeds of woody plants have the highest known concentrations. [53]
As of April 2018 [update] there are reports of the discovery of very large reserves of rare-earth elements in the deep seabed several hundred kilometers from the tiny Japanese island of Minami-Torishima Island, also known as Marcus Island. This location is described as having "tremendous potential" for rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY), according to a study published in Scientific Reports. [54] "This REY-rich mud has great potential as a rare-earth metal resource because of the enormous amount available and its advantageous mineralogical features," the study reads. The study shows that more than 16 million short tons (15 billion kilograms) of rare-earth elements could be "exploited in the near future." As well as yttrium (Y), which is used in products like camera lenses and mobile phone screens, the rare-earth elements found are europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy). [55]
As yttrium is chemically similar to lanthanides, it occurs in the same ores (rare-earth minerals) and is extracted by the same refinement processes. A slight distinction is recognized between the light (LREE) and the heavy rare-earth elements (HREE), but the distinction is not perfect. Yttrium is concentrated in the HREE group due to its ion size, though it has a lower atomic mass. [56] [57]
Rare-earth elements (REEs) come mainly from four sources: [58]
One method for obtaining pure yttrium from the mixed oxide ores is to dissolve the oxide in sulfuric acid and fractionate it by ion exchange chromatography. With the addition of oxalic acid, the yttrium oxalate precipitates. The oxalate is converted into the oxide by heating under oxygen. By reacting the resulting yttrium oxide with hydrogen fluoride, yttrium fluoride is obtained. [66] When quaternary ammonium salts are used as extractants, most yttrium will remain in the aqueous phase. When the counter-ion is nitrate, the light lanthanides are removed, and when the counter-ion is thiocyanate, the heavy lanthanides are removed. In this way, yttrium salts of 99.999% purity are obtained. In the usual situation, where yttrium is in a mixture that is two-thirds heavy-lanthanide, yttrium should be removed as soon as possible to facilitate the separation of the remaining elements.
Annual world production of yttrium oxide had reached 600 tonnes (660 short tons ) by 2001; by 2014 it had increased to 6,400 tonnes (7,000 short tons). [51] [67] Global reserves of yttrium oxide were estimated in 2014 to be more than 450,000 tonnes (500,000 short tons). The leading countries for these reserves included Australia, Brazil, China, India, and the United States. [67] Only a few tonnes of yttrium metal are produced each year by reducing yttrium fluoride to a metal sponge with calcium magnesium alloy. The temperature of an arc furnace, in excess of 1,600 °C, is sufficient to melt the yttrium. [51] [66]
The red component of color television cathode ray tubes is typically emitted from an yttria (Y
2O
3) or yttrium oxide sulfide (Y
2O
2S) host lattice doped with europium (III) cation (Eu3+) phosphors. [15] [9] [i] The red color itself is emitted from the europium while the yttrium collects energy from the electron gun and passes it to the phosphor. [68] Yttrium compounds can serve as host lattices for doping with different lanthanide cations. Tb3+ can be used as a doping agent to produce green luminescence. As such yttrium compounds such as yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) are useful for phosphors and are an important component of white LEDs.
Yttria is used as a sintering additive in the production of porous silicon nitride. [69]
Yttrium compounds are used as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization. [15] As a metal, yttrium is used on the electrodes of some high-performance spark plugs. [70] Yttrium is used in gas mantles for propane lanterns as a replacement for thorium, which is radioactive. [71]
Yttrium is used in the production of a large variety of synthetic garnets, [72] and yttria is used to make yttrium iron garnets (Y
3Fe
5O
12, "YIG"), which are very effective microwave filters [15] which were recently shown to have magnetic interactions more complex and longer-ranged than understood over the previous four decades. [73] Yttrium, iron, aluminium, and gadolinium garnets (e.g. Y3(Fe,Al)5O12 and Y3(Fe,Gd)5O12) have important magnetic properties. [15] YIG is also very efficient as an acoustic energy transmitter and transducer. [74] Yttrium aluminium garnet (Y
3Al
5O
12 or YAG) has a hardness of 8.5 and is also used as a gemstone in jewelry (simulated diamond). [15] Cerium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG:Ce) crystals are used as phosphors to make white LEDs. [75] [76] [77]
YAG, yttria, yttrium lithium fluoride (LiYF4), and yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4) are used in combination with dopants such as neodymium, erbium, ytterbium in near-infrared lasers. [78] [79] YAG lasers can operate at high power and are used for drilling and cutting metal. [62] The single crystals of doped YAG are normally produced by the Czochralski process. [80]
Small amounts of yttrium (0.1 to 0.2%) have been used to reduce the grain sizes of chromium, molybdenum, titanium, and zirconium. [81] Yttrium is used to increase the strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys. [15] The addition of yttrium to alloys generally improves workability, adds resistance to high-temperature recrystallization, and significantly enhances resistance to high-temperature oxidation (see graphite nodule discussion below). [68]
Yttrium can be used to deoxidize vanadium and other non-ferrous metals. [15] Yttria stabilizes the cubic form of zirconia in jewelry. [82]
Yttrium has been studied as a nodulizer in ductile cast iron, forming the graphite into compact nodules instead of flakes to increase ductility and fatigue resistance. [15] Having a high melting point, yttrium oxide is used in some ceramic and glass to impart shock resistance and low thermal expansion properties. [15] Those same properties make such glass useful in camera lenses. [51]
The radioisotope yttrium-90 (90Y) is used to label drugs such as edotreotide and ibritumomab tiuxetan for the treatment of various cancers, including lymphoma, leukemia, liver, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic and bone cancers. [53] It works by adhering to monoclonal antibodies, which in turn bind to cancer cells and kill them via intense β-radiation from the 90Y (see monoclonal antibody therapy). [83]
A technique called radioembolization is used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastasis. Radioembolization is a low toxicity, targeted liver cancer therapy that uses millions of tiny beads made of glass or resin containing 90Y. The radioactive microspheres are delivered directly to the blood vessels feeding specific liver tumors/segments or lobes. It is minimally invasive and patients can usually be discharged after a few hours. This procedure may not eliminate all tumors throughout the entire liver, but works on one segment or one lobe at a time and may require multiple procedures. [84]
Also see radioembolization in the case of combined cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Needles made of 90Y, which can cut more precisely than scalpels, have been used to sever pain-transmitting nerves in the spinal cord, [34] and 90Y is also used to carry out radionuclide synovectomy in the treatment of inflamed joints, especially knees, in people with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. [85]
A neodymium-doped yttrium–aluminium–garnet laser has been used in an experimental, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in canines in an attempt to reduce collateral nerve and tissue damage, [86] and erbium-doped lasers are coming into use for cosmetic skin resurfacing. [9]
Yttrium is a key ingredient in the yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa2Cu3O7, aka 'YBCO' or '1-2-3') superconductor developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of Houston in 1987. [49] This superconductor is notable because the operating superconductivity temperature is above liquid nitrogen's boiling point (77.1 K). [49] Since liquid nitrogen is less expensive than the liquid helium required for metallic superconductors, the operating costs for applications would be less.
The actual superconducting material is often written as YBa2Cu3O7–d, where d must be less than 0.7 for superconductivity. The reason for this is still not clear, but it is known that the vacancies occur only in certain places in the crystal, the copper oxide planes, and chains, giving rise to a peculiar oxidation state of the copper atoms, which somehow leads to the superconducting behavior.
The theory of low temperature superconductivity has been well understood since the BCS theory of 1957. It is based on a peculiarity of the interaction between two electrons in a crystal lattice. However, the BCS theory does not explain high temperature superconductivity, and its precise mechanism is still a mystery. What is known is that the composition of the copper-oxide materials must be precisely controlled for superconductivity to occur. [87]
This superconductor is a black and green, multi-crystal, multi-phase mineral. Researchers are studying a class of materials known as perovskites that are alternative combinations of these elements, hoping to develop a practical high-temperature superconductor. [62]
Yttrium is used in small quantities in the cathodes of some Lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP), which are then commonly called LiFeYPO4 chemistry, or LYP. Similar to LFP, LYP batteries offer high energy density, good safety and long life. But LYP offers higher cathode stability, and prolongs the life of the battery, by protecting the physical structure of the cathode, especially at higher temperatures and higher charging / discharge current. LYP batteries find use in stationary applications (off-grid solar systems), electric vehicles (some cars), as well other applications (submarines, ships), similar to LFP batteries, but often at improved safety and cycle life time. LYP cells have essentially the same nominal voltage as LFP, 3.25 V, but the maximum charging voltage is 4.0 V, [88] and the charging and discharge characteristics are very similar. [89]
In 2009, Professor Mas Subramanian and associates at Oregon State University discovered that yttrium can be combined with indium and manganese to form an intensely blue, non-toxic, inert, fade-resistant pigment, YInMn blue, the first new blue pigment discovered in 200 years.
Yttrium can be highly toxic to humans, animals and plants. [10] Water-soluble compounds of yttrium are considered mildly toxic, while its insoluble compounds are non-toxic. [53] In experiments on animals, yttrium and its compounds caused lung and liver damage, though toxicity varies with different yttrium compounds. In rats, inhalation of yttrium citrate caused pulmonary edema and dyspnea, while inhalation of yttrium chloride caused liver edema, pleural effusions, and pulmonary hyperemia. [10]
Exposure to yttrium compounds in humans may cause lung disease. [10] Workers exposed to airborne yttrium europium vanadate dust experienced mild eye, skin, and upper respiratory tract irritation—though this may be caused by the vanadium content rather than the yttrium. [10] Acute exposure to yttrium compounds can cause shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain, and cyanosis. [10] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits exposure to yttrium in the workplace to 1 mg/m3 (5.8×10−10 oz/cu in ) over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) is 1 mg/m3 (5.8×10−10 oz/cu in) over an 8-hour workday. At levels of 500 mg/m3 (2.9×10−7 oz/cu in), yttrium is immediately dangerous to life and health. [90] Yttrium dust is highly flammable. [10]
Dysprosium is a chemical element; it has symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare-earth element in the lanthanide series with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though, like other lanthanides, it is found in various minerals, such as xenotime. Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven isotopes, the most abundant of which is 164Dy.
Europium is a chemical element; it has symbol Eu and atomic number 63. Europium is a silvery-white metal of the lanthanide series that reacts readily with air to form a dark oxide coating. It is the most chemically reactive, least dense, and softest of the lanthanide elements. It is soft enough to be cut with a knife. Europium was isolated in 1901 and named after the continent of Europe. Europium usually assumes the oxidation state +3, like other members of the lanthanide series, but compounds having oxidation state +2 are also common. All europium compounds with oxidation state +2 are slightly reducing. Europium has no significant biological role and is relatively non-toxic compared to other heavy metals. Most applications of europium exploit the phosphorescence of europium compounds. Europium is one of the rarest of the rare-earth elements on Earth.
Erbium is a chemical element; it has symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements. It is a lanthanide, a rare-earth element, originally found in the gadolinite mine in Ytterby, Sweden, which is the source of the element's name.
Gadolinium is a chemical element; it has symbol Gd and atomic number 64. Gadolinium is a silvery-white metal when oxidation is removed. It is a malleable and ductile rare-earth element. Gadolinium reacts with atmospheric oxygen or moisture slowly to form a black coating. Gadolinium below its Curie point of 20 °C (68 °F) is ferromagnetic, with an attraction to a magnetic field higher than that of nickel. Above this temperature it is the most paramagnetic element. It is found in nature only in an oxidized form. When separated, it usually has impurities of the other rare earths because of their similar chemical properties.
Holmium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ho and atomic number 67. It is a rare-earth element and the eleventh member of the lanthanide series. It is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Like many other lanthanides, holmium is too reactive to be found in native form, as pure holmium slowly forms a yellowish oxide coating when exposed to air. When isolated, holmium is relatively stable in dry air at room temperature. However, it reacts with water and corrodes readily, and also burns in air when heated.
Hafnium is a chemical element; it has symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, though it was not identified until 1922, by Dirk Coster and George de Hevesy. Hafnium is named after Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen, where it was discovered.
Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and the atomic number 57. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series, a group of 15 similar elements between lanthanum and lutetium in the periodic table, of which lanthanum is the first and the prototype. Lanthanum is traditionally counted among the rare earth elements. Like most other rare earth elements, its usual oxidation state is +3, although some compounds are known with an oxidation state of +2. Lanthanum has no biological role in humans but is essential to some bacteria. It is not particularly toxic to humans but does show some antimicrobial activity.
Lutetium is a chemical element; it has symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted among the rare earth elements; it can also be classified as the first element of the 6th-period transition metals.
The lanthanide or lanthanoid series of chemical elements comprises at least the 14 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–70, from lanthanum through ytterbium. In the periodic table, they fill the 4f orbitals. Lutetium is also sometimes considered a lanthanide, despite being a d-block element and a transition metal.
Neodymium is a chemical element; it has symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishes in air and moisture. When oxidized, neodymium reacts quickly producing pink, purple/blue and yellow compounds in the +2, +3 and +4 oxidation states. It is generally regarded as having one of the most complex spectra of the elements. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach, who also discovered praseodymium. It is present in significant quantities in the minerals monazite and bastnäsite. Neodymium is not found naturally in metallic form or unmixed with other lanthanides, and it is usually refined for general use. Neodymium is fairly common—about as common as cobalt, nickel, or copper—and is widely distributed in the Earth's crust. Most of the world's commercial neodymium is mined in China, as is the case with many other rare-earth metals.
Samarium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sm and atomic number 62. It is a moderately hard silvery metal that slowly oxidizes in air. Being a typical member of the lanthanide series, samarium usually has the oxidation state +3. Compounds of samarium(II) are also known, most notably the monoxide SmO, monochalcogenides SmS, SmSe and SmTe, as well as samarium(II) iodide.
Terbium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Tb and atomic number 65. It is a silvery-white, rare earth metal that is malleable and ductile. The ninth member of the lanthanide series, terbium is a fairly electropositive metal that reacts with water, evolving hydrogen gas. Terbium is never found in nature as a free element, but it is contained in many minerals, including cerite, gadolinite, monazite, xenotime and euxenite.
Thulium is a chemical element; it has symbol Tm and atomic number 69. It is the thirteenth element in the lanthanide series of metals. It is the second-least abundant lanthanide in the Earth's crust, after radioactively unstable promethium. It is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster. It is fairly soft and slowly tarnishes in air. Despite its high price and rarity, thulium is used as a dopant in solid-state lasers, and as the radiation source in some portable X-ray devices. It has no significant biological role and is not particularly toxic.
Ytterbium is a chemical element; it has symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is a metal, the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state. Like the other lanthanides, its most common oxidation state is +3, as in its oxide, halides, and other compounds. In aqueous solution, like compounds of other late lanthanides, soluble ytterbium compounds form complexes with nine water molecules. Because of its closed-shell electron configuration, its density, melting point and boiling point are much lower than those of most other lanthanides.
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids, are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes.
A period 5 element is one of the chemical elements in the fifth row of the periodic table of the chemical elements. The periodic table is laid out in rows to illustrate recurring (periodic) trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements as their atomic number increases: a new row is begun when chemical behaviour begins to repeat, meaning that elements with similar behaviour fall into the same vertical columns. The fifth period contains 18 elements, beginning with rubidium and ending with xenon. As a rule, period 5 elements fill their 5s shells first, then their 4d, and 5p shells, in that order; however, there are exceptions, such as rhodium.
Praseodymium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pr and the atomic number 59. It is the third member of the lanthanide series and is considered one of the rare-earth metals. It is a soft, silvery, malleable and ductile metal, valued for its magnetic, electrical, chemical, and optical properties. It is too reactive to be found in native form, and pure praseodymium metal slowly develops a green oxide coating when exposed to air.
Group 3 is the first group of transition metals in the periodic table. This group is closely related to the rare-earth elements. It contains the four elements scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lutetium (Lu), and lawrencium (Lr). The group is also called the scandium group or scandium family after its lightest member.
Yttrium oxide, also known as yttria, is Y2O3. It is an air-stable, white solid substance.
Cerium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it often shows the oxidation state of +3 characteristic of the series, it also has a stable +4 state that does not oxidize water. It is considered one of the rare-earth elements. Cerium has no known biological role in humans but is not particularly toxic, except with intense or continued exposure.
Yttrium chloride.
Yttrium chloride.