Thulium compounds properties

A. Benoit, J. X. Boucherle, J. Flouquet, F. Holtzberg, J. Schwelzer, C. Vettier, Thulium Selen-ide and Cerium Compounds Properties, Valence Fluctuations Solids St. Barbara Inst. Theor. Phys. Conf., Santa Barbara, Calif., 1981, pp. 197/207. 

The brittle, silvery, shiny metal was long considered the last stable element of the Periodic Table. In 2003 it was unmasked as an extremely weak alpha emitter (half-life 20 billion years). Like thulium, there is only one isotope. Bismuth alloys have low melting points (fuses, fire sprinklers). As an additive in tiny amounts, it imparts special properties on a range of metals. Applied in electronics and optoelectronics. The oxichloride (BiOCl) gives rise to pearlescent pigments (cosmetics). As bismuth is practically nontoxic, its compounds have medical applications. The basic oxide neutralizes stomach acids. A multitalented element. Crystallizes with an impressive layering effect (see right). 

Important scientific and industrial applications for thulium and its compounds remain to be developed. In particular, the photoelectric, semiconductor, and thermoelectric properties of the element and compounds, particularly behavior in the near-infrared region of the spectrum, are being studied. Thulium has been used in phosphors, ferrite bubble devices, and catalysis. Irradiated thulium (169Tm) is used in a portable x-ray unit. 

Bisphthalocyanines based on rare earth metals lutenium (45j) and thulium (45k) were studied as early as 1990.[267] These compounds had a field-effect mobility of 10 cm V- s- under vacuum, but the electronic properties degraded rapidly upon exposure to ambient conditions. 

The lanthanide or rare earth elements (atomic numbers 57 through 71) typically add electrons to the 4f orbitals as the atomic number increases, but lanthanum (4f°) is usually considered a lanthanide. Scandium and yttrium are also chemically similar to lanthanides. Lanthanide chemistry is typically that of + 3 cations, and as the atomic number increases, there is a decrease in radius for each lanthanide, known as the lanthanide contraction. Because bonding within the lanthanide series is usually predominantly ionic, the lanthanide contraction often determines the differences in properties of lanthanide compounds and ions. Lanthanide compounds often have high coordination numbers between 6 and 12. see also Cerium Dysprosium Erbium Europium Gadolinium Holmium Lanthanum Lutetium Praseodymium Promethium Samarium Terbium Thulium Ytterbium. 

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