Thulium earths

Some nut trees accumulate mineral elements. Hickory nut is notable as an accumulator of aluminum compounds (30) the ash of its leaves contains up to 37.5% of AI2O2, compared with only 0.032% of aluminum oxide in the ash of the Fnglish walnut s autumn leaves. As an accumulator of rare-earth elements, hickory greatly exceeds all other plants their leaves show up to 2296 ppm of rare earths (scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium). The amounts of rare-earth elements found in parts of the hickory nut are kernels, at 5 ppm shells, at 7 ppm and shucks, at 17 ppm. The kernel of the Bra2d nut contains large amounts of barium in an insoluble form when the nut is eaten, barium dissolves in the hydrochloric acid of the stomach. 

The silver gray metal can be cut with a knife, although it only melts at 1545 °C (for comparison, iron 1538 °C). It is the rarest of the "rare earths", but is nevertheless more abundant than iodine, mercury, and silver. Thulium has few applications, especially because it is relatively expensive. The element occurs naturally as a single isotope, namely 169Tm (compare bismuth). The artificial, radioactive 170Tm is a transportable source of X-rays for testing materials. Occasionally used in laser optics and microwave technology. 

Rare earth. One of a group of 15 chemically related elements lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium. 

Thulium is a naturally occurring rare metal that exists is very small amounts mixed with other rare-earths. It is a bright silvery metal that is malleable and ductile and can be cut easily with a knife. Its melting point is so high that it is difficult to force it into a melted state. Its vapor pressure is also high, and thus, much of the molten thulium evaporates into the atmosphere. Its melting point is 1,545°C, its boiling point is 2,950°C, and its density is 9.32g/cm. ... 

Thulium is near the end of the lanthanide series, where the metals tend to be heavier than the ones located near the beginning of the series. It is so scarce that it requires the processing of about 500 tons of earth to extract four kilograms of thulium. The only element that is scarcer is promethium, which is not found naturally on Earth. 

Similar to other rare-earths, thulium has a single oxidation state of +3. A general formula for the positive ion of thulium and the elements found in group 7 (fluorides) with a negative ion is expressed as follows ... 

Holmium is obtained from monazite, bastnasite and other rare-earth minerals as a by-product during recovery of dysprosium, thulium and other rare-earth metals. The recovery steps in production of all lanthanide elements are very similar. These involve breaking up ores by treatment with hot concentrated sulfuric acid or by caustic fusion separation of rare-earths by ion-exchange processes conversion to halide salts and reduction of the hahde(s) to metal (See Dysprosium, Gadolinium and Erbium). 

Thulium was discovered in 1879 by Cleve and named after Thule, the earliest name for Scandinavia. Its oxide thulia was isolated by James in 1911. Thulium is one of the least abundant lanthanide elements and is found in very small amounts with other rare earths. It occurs in the yttrium-rich minerals xenotime, euxenite, samarskite, gadolinite, loparite, fergusonite, and yttroparisite. Also, it occurs in trace quantities in minerals monazite and... 

Moseley s work not only shed much fight on the periodic system and the relationships between known elements and the radioactive isotopes, but was also a great stimulus in the search for the few elements remaining undiscovered (11). One of the first chemists to utilize the new method was Professor Georges Urbain of Paris, who took his rare earth preparations to Oxford for examination. Moseley showed him the characteristic fines of erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium, and confirmed in a few days the conclusions which Professor Urbain had made after twenty years... 

Oxyhalides. The oxyhalides of yttrium, lanthanum, and gadolinium are good host lattices for activation with other rare-earth ions such as terbium, cerium, and thulium. The use of LaOCl Tb3+ as the green component in projection-television tubes has been discussed [5.419]. LaOBr Tb3+ and LaOBr Tm3+ exhibit high X-ray absorption, and they are used in X-ray intensifying screens [5.420]. 

Even more striking in the old tooth is the abundance of rare earths (dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium) and the elements tantalum, tungsten, gold, thorium, and uranium. Rare earth minerals are found in Scandinavia (in fact, many rare earth elements were discovered there), but what were they used for Did people prepare food with them Did they somehow get into the food chain ... 

Ionic radius Tm3+ 0.880 A. Metallic radius 1.746 A. First ionization potential 6.18 V second 12.05 V. Odier physical properties of thulium are given under Rare-Earth Elements and Metals. 

Thulium occurs in apatite and xenotime and is derived from these minerals as a minor coproduct in the processing of yttrium. Processing involves organic ion-exchange, liquid-liquid, or solid-liquid, techniques. Prior to the development of cation exchange resins capable of separating the chemically similar rare earths, thulium was practically unavailable in... 

B. Evans, Assistant Chemist. Rare-Earth Information Center. Energy itnd Mineral Resources Research Institute. Iowa Slate University. Ames. I,A. http //www.cxternal.ameslab.gov/. Cerium Dysprosium Erbium Europium Gadolinium Holmium Lanthanum Lutetium Neodymium Rare-Earth Elements and Metals Praseodymium Samarium Scandium Terbium Thulium Ytterbium and Yttrium Daniel F. Farkas, Oregon State University. Corvallis. OR. http // oregonstate.edu/. Food Processing... 

Comparing the relative abundance of the rare earths and the other elements listed in Table 1, the rare earths are not so rare. Cerium, the most abundant of the rare-earth elements is roughly as abundant as tin thulium, the least abundant, is more common than cadmium or silver. Over 200... 

Although rare-earth ions are mosdy trivalent, lanthanides can exist in the divalent or tetravalent state when the electronic configuration is dose to the stable empty, half-filled, or completely filled shells. Thus samarium, europium, thulium, and ytterbium can exist as divalent cations in certain environments. On the other hand, tetravalent cerium, praseodymium, and terbium are found, even as oxides where trivalent and tetravalent states often coexist. The stabilization of the different valence states for particular rare earths is sometimes used for separation from the other trivalent lanthanides. The chemicals properties of the di- and tetravalent ions are significantly different. 

He went through some strange, dexterous movements with his spectroscope, followed by short rapid calculations on paper. Turning to the French savant, Moseley told him the complete story of the rare earths which had taken Urbain months of laborious analytical operations to find out for himself. Erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutecium, of atomic numbers 68, 69, 70, and 71, were present, but the element corresponding to 61 was absent. 

The position of yttrium in rare earth chemistry has always been interesting and this is also the case with respect to complex formation. The electrostatic model suggests placement of yttrium between holmium and thulium. It has been shown that it is not the case [14]. When one considers the stability constant data of group 1 ligands, yttrium is similar to the heavy rare earths. When the second group of ligands is considered, yttrium exhibits a behaviour similar to the lighter rare earth elements. 

The rare earths (RE) are actually far from rare.6 The known reserves are more than 84 x 106 tons, a 2300 year supply at the present rates of consumption. Even the scarcest one, thulium, is more common than Bi, As, Cd, Hg, or Se. The largest reserves (51%) are in mainland China other major deposits are in the USA (15%), Australia (6%), and India (3%). 

Four rare-earth elements (yttrium, ytterbium, erbium, and terbium) have been named in honor of this village. A year later, the Swedish chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson (1840-1899), discovered another element in "erbia" and he named it scandium (Sc) in honor of Scandinavia. At the same time, Nilson s compatriot, the geologist and chemist Per Theodor Cleve (1840-1905) succeeded in resolving the "erbia" earths yet another step further, when he separated it into three components erbium, "holmium" (Flo) and thulium (Tm). The name "holmium" refers to Stockholm (Qeve s native city) and had been independently discovered by the Swiss chemists Marc Dela-fontame (1838-1911) and Jacques-Louis Soret (1827-1890), who had coined the metal element X on the basis of its absorption spectrum. 

In general, Y and the heavier lanthanides, Gd to Lu, are less abundant than the lighter lanthanides. La to Eu. However, there are two further complicating factors one is that the elements with even atomic number are more abundant than those of odd atomic number, reflecting the greater stability of such nuclei. Secondly, some ores (e.g. bastnasite, monazite) are richer in the lighter metals while others (e.g. xenotime) have more of the heavier metals. The abundance of yttrium in the Earth s crust is 31 ppm while the total abundance of the lanthanides is some 180 ppm cerium is the most abundant (66 ppm), while thulium and lutetium are the rarest (0.5 and 0.8 ppm, respectively). 

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]. 

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