Light earths

Light earths (La to Eu) Middle earths (Sm to Ho) Heavy earths (Gd to Lu)... 

Takano, Y Takahashi, J. Kaneko, T. Marumo, K. Kobayashi, K. Asymmetric synthesis of amino acid precursors in interstellar complex organics by circularly polarized light. Earth Planet. Sd. Lett. 2007, 254, 106—114. 

For molecules exposed to the intensity of sunlight at the earth s surface this would suggest that the molecule might be excited once in the age of the universe. However, the probability is proportional to the square of the light intensity. For a molecule exposed to a pulsed laser focused to a small spot, the probability of being excited by one pulse may be easily observable by fluorescence excitation or multiphoton ionization teclnhques. 

Rare-earth compounds containing lanthanum are extensively used in carbon lighting applications, especially by the motion picture industry for studio lighting and projection. This application consumes about 25 percent of the rare-earth compounds produced. La203 improves the alkali resistance of glass, and is used in making special optical glasses. Small amounts of lanthanum, as an additive, can be used to produce nodular cast iron. 

Praseodymium is soft, silvery, malleable, and ductile. It is somewhat more resistant to corrosion in air than europium, lanthanum, cerium, or neodymium, but it does develop a green oxide coating that spalls off when exposed to air. As with other rare-earth metals, it should be kept under a light mineral oil or sealed in plastic. 

Gr. neos, new, and didymos, twin) In 1841, Mosander, extracted from cerite a new rose-colored oxide, which he believed contained a new element. He named the element didymium, as it was an inseparable twin brother of lanthanum. In 1885 von Welsbach separated didymium into two new elemental components, neodymia and praseodymia, by repeated fractionation of ammonium didymium nitrate. While the free metal is in misch metal, long known and used as a pyrophoric alloy for light flints, the element was not isolated in relatively pure form until 1925. Neodymium is present in misch metal to the extent of about 18%. It is present in the minerals monazite and bastnasite, which are principal sources of rare-earth metals. 

The metal has a bright silvery metallic luster. Neodymium is one of the more reactive rare-earth metals and quickly tarnishes in air, forming an oxide that spalls off and exposes metal to oxidation. The metal, therefore, should be kept under light mineral oil or sealed in a plastic material. Neodymium exists in two allotropic forms, with a transformation from a double hexagonal to a body-centered cubic structure taking place at 863oC. 

The application of this last result to light scattered by the earth s atmosphere is especially interesting. The wavelengths of light at the red and blue ends of the... 

It is easy to reduce anhydrous rare-earth hatides to the metal by reaction of mote electropositive metals such as calcium, lithium, sodium, potassium, and aluminum. Electrolytic reduction is an alternative in the production of the light lanthanide metals, including didymium, a Nd—Pt mixture. The rare-earth metals have a great affinity for oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, silicon, boron, phosphoms, and hydrogen at elevated temperature and remove these elements from most other metals. 

Fra.ctiona.1 Precipituition. A preliminary enrichment of certain lanthanides can be carried out by selective precipitation of the hydroxides or double salts. The lighter lanthanides (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) do not easily form soluble double sulfates, whereas those of the heavier lanthanides (Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) and yttrium are soluble. Generally, the use of this method has been confined to cmde separation of the rare-earth mixture into three groups light, medium, and heavy. 

RE(N0 )2 NH NO 4H20 for light lanthanide separation (La, Nd, Pr) 2RE(N02)3 3Mg(N03)2 24H20 for middle lanthanide separation (Sm, Eu, Gd). Bromates and ethylsulfates have been found useful. Fractional crystallization is particularly slow and tedious for the medium and heavy rare earths. 

The extent of extraction can be increased by a salting out effect. The selectivity of TBP is very poor compared with HDEHP and it is only useful for light rare-earth separation however, organic phase loadings or REO higher than 100 g/L can easily be achieved. There are a large number of TBP manufacturers in Japan, the United States, and Europe. 

Fused Salt Electrolysis. Only light RE metals (La to Nd) can be produced by molten salt electrolysis because these have a relatively low melting point compared to those of medium and heavy RE metals. Deposition of an alloy with another metal, Zn for example, is an alternative. The feed is a mixture of anhydrous RE chlorides and fluorides. The materials from which the electrolysis cell is constmcted are of great importance because of the high reactivity of the rare-earth metals. Molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, or alternatively iron with ceramic or graphite linings are used as cmcible materials. Carbon is frequently used as an anode material. 

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