Erbium

Erbium

CAS: 7440-52-0
Description: Grayish-silver metal
Classification: Rare Earth (Lanthanide)
Date of Discovery: 1843
Discoverer: Carl Mosander
Name Origin: Ytterby, a town in Sweden

Atomic Number: 68
Number of Neutrons: 99
Atomic Mass: 167.26(3) amu
Melting Point: 1529 °C
Boiling Point: 2868 °C
Density (25 °C): 9.066 g/cm³
Atomic volume: 18.4 cm³/mol
Electrical resistivity: 0.0117 10^-6/cm

Thermal conductivity: 0.143 W/cmK
Enthalpy of atomization: 314 kJ/mol (est.)
Enthalpy of vaporization: 261.0 kJ/mol
Enthalpy of fusion: 19.90 kJ/mol
Specific heat capacity: 0.17 J/gK

Energy levels: 2-8-18-30-8-2
Electron configuration: [Xe]4f ¹²6s²
Crystal Structure: Hexagonal
Atomic radius: 2.45 Å
Covalent radius: 1.57 Å
Oxidation States: +3
Electronegativity, Pauling: 1.24
Electron affinity:
First ionization energy: 6.101 eV
2nd ionization energy: 11.929 eV
3rd ionization energy: 22.739 eV
Polarizability: 22.7 10^-24cm³

Isotope	Natural Abundance	Atomic Mass	Half-life	Decay Mode	Spin
¹⁴⁷Er	146.9494	2.5 s	EC, ⁺
¹⁴⁸Er	147.9444	4.5 s	⁺, EC
^149mEr	10 s	IT	11/2-
¹⁴⁹Er	148.9425	10.7 s	EC, ⁺	1/2+
¹⁵⁰Er	149.9370	18 s	⁺; EC	0+
¹⁵¹Er	150.9373	23 s	⁺, EC	7/2-
¹⁵²Er	151.93500	10.2 s	⁺;	0+
¹⁵³Er	152.93509	37.1 s	; ⁺, EC
¹⁵⁴Er	153.93278	3.7 m	⁺, EC;	0+
¹⁵⁵Er	154.93321	5.3 m	⁺, EC; EC	(7/2-)
¹⁵⁶Er	155.9308	20 m	⁺, EC	0+
¹⁵⁷Er	156.9319	25 m	⁺, EC	3/2-
¹⁵⁸Er	157.93087	2.2 h	EC; ⁺	0+
¹⁵⁹Er	158.930681	36 m	⁺; EC	3/2-
¹⁶⁰Er	159.92908	1.191 d	EC	0+
¹⁶¹Er	160.9300	3.21 h	EC	3/2-
¹⁶²Er	0.14(1)	161.928775	Stable	0+
¹⁶³Er	162.93003	1.25 h	EC	5/2-
¹⁶⁴Er	1.61(2)	163.929197	Stable	0+
¹⁶⁵Er	164.930723	10.36 h	EC	5/2-
¹⁶⁶Er	33.6(2)	165.930290	Stable	0+
^167mEr	2.27 s	^-	1/2-
¹⁶⁷Er	22.95(15)	166.932046	Stable	7/2+
¹⁶⁸Er	26.8(2)	167.932368	Stable	0+
¹⁶⁹Er	168.934588	9.40 d	^-	1/2-
¹⁷⁰Er	14.9(2)	169.935461	Stable	0+
¹⁷¹Er	170.938026	7.52 h	^-	5/2-
¹⁷²Er	171.939352	2.05 d	^-
¹⁷³Er	172.9424	1.4 m	^-	(7/2-)
¹⁷⁴Er	173.9441	3.1 m	^-
Erbium one of the so-called rare-earth elements of the lanthanide series, is found in the minerals mentioned under dysprosium above. in 1842 Mosander separated "yttria," found in the mineral gadolinite, into three fractions which he called yttria, erbia, and terbia. The names erbia and terbia became confused in this early period. After 1860, Mosander's terbia was known as erbia, and after 1877, the earlier known erbia became terbia. The erbia of this period was later shown to consist of five oxides, now known as erbia, scandia, holmia, thulia and ytterbia. By 1905 Urbain and James independently succeeded in isolating fairly pure Er₂O₃. Klemm and Bommer first produced reasonably pure erbium metal in 1934 by reducing the anhydrous chloride with potassium vapor. The pure metal is soft and malleable and has a bright, silvery, metallic luster. As with other rare-earth metals, its properties depend to a certain extent on the impurities present. The metal is fairly stable in air and does not oxidize as rapidly as some of the other rare-earth metals. Naturally occurring erbium is a mixture of six isotopes, all of which are stable. Twenty-four radioactive isotopes of erbium are also recognized. Recent production techniques, using ion-exchange reactions, have resulted in much lower prices of the rare-earth metals and their compounds in recent years. Erbium is finding nuclear and metallurgical uses. Added to vanadium, for example, erbium lowers the hardness and improves workability. Most of the rare-earth oxides have sharp absorption bands in the visible, ultraviolet, and near infrared. This property, associated with the electronic structure, serves beautiful pastel colors to many of the rare-earth salts. Erbium oxide gives a pink color and has been used as a colorant in glasses and porcelain enamel glazes. LINKS: Electroluminescence of erbium doped crystalline silicon Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers Information, data sheet and standard forms Magnetic phases of erbium in a c-axis field Photon Interaction Coefficients of Erbium Return Sources for the information on this website include: Lide, David R., ed. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 78th Ed., 1997-1998.

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