Erbium properties

Carl Gustaf Mosander, a Swedish chemist, successfully separated two rare-earths from a sample of lanthanum found in the mineral gadolinite. He then tried the same procedure with the rare-earth yttria. He was successful in separating this rare-earth into three separate rare-earths with similar names yttia, erbia, and terbia. For the next 50 years scientists confused these three elements because of their similar names and very similar chemical and physical properties. Erbia and terbia were switched around, and for some time the two rare-earths were mixed up. The confusion was settled ostensibly in 1877 when the chemistry profession had the final say in the matter. However, they also got it wrong. What we know today as erbium was originally terbium, and terbium was erbium. 

Swedish physicist, astronomer, and spec-troscopist. He mapped the spectra of yttrium, erbium, didymium, lanthanum, scandium, thulium, and ytterbium, and in 1866 wrote a histoncal review of spectrum analysis. He also studied the magnetic properties of iron and iron ores. 

First ionization potential 6.10 eV second 11.93 eV. Ionic radius Erl+ 0.881 A. Metallic radius 1.758 A. Other important physical properties of erbium are given under Rare-Earth Elements and Metals. 

Given the greater nuclear charge of the succeeding elements, however, and these structures become stable. (In the case of erbium the three additional nuclear charges of lutecium are necessary before this particular erbium kernel structure becomes stable.) Thus the following elements derive their properties from the tendency to revert to the stable forms of the key elements. These are called the beta forms, or Ni/3, Pd/3, Er/3, Pt/3, and the subordinate periods are based on these forms, as is apparent in the table, in the same way that the major periods are based on the inert gases. 

Fluorescence.—The majority of platinocyanides fluoresce under the stimulus of ultra-violet light1 or of radium radiations, although some salts show no sign of this property. Magnesium, erbium, yttrium, thallium and uranyl salts are cases in point. 

It is possible to include yttrium among the rare earths, because of its properties, which are rather like those of some of the rare earths. For instance, when we express a physical property of the sulfides as a function of the ionic radii of the metals, the yttrium sulfide normally lies among the rare earth series, without any discontinuity, between dysprosium and erbium sulfides. 

Lanthanide elements (referred to as Ln) have atomic numbers that range from 57 to 71. They are lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu). With the inclusion of scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y), which are in the same subgroup, this total of 17 elements are referred to as the rare earth elements (RE). They are similar in some aspects but very different in many others. Based on the electronic configuration of the rare earth elements, in this chapter we will discuss the lanthanide contraction phenomenon and the consequential effects on the chemical and physical properties of these elements. The coordination chemistry of lanthanide complexes containing small inorganic ligands is also briefly introduced here [1-5]. 

Westin, G, Kritikos, M., and Wijk, M. (1998) Synthesis and properties of erbium isopropoxides structural characterization of Er5(0)(0IV)i3. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 1411, 168-176. 

Song, L., Wang, Q., Tang, D., etal. (2007) Crystal structure and near-infrared luminescence properties of novel binuclear erbium and erbium-ytterbium cocrystalline complexes. New Journal of Chemistry, 31, 506. 

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