{"id":274,"date":"2020-04-09T10:12:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T10:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechemicalelements.com\/?page_id=274"},"modified":"2023-08-15T13:34:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T13:34:20","slug":"erbium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechemicalelements.com\/erbium\/","title":{"rendered":"Erbium (Er)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Erbium is a radioactive chemical element with an atomic number of 68 in the periodic table of elements. This rare-earth element is found in the quantity of 3.8 ppm in Earth\u2019s crust (0.0003%). Being a member of the lanthanides family of the periodic table, erbium is also classified as a transition metal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chemical and Physical Properties of Erbium<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Property<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Symbol<\/td>Er<\/td><\/tr>
Atomic number<\/td>68<\/td><\/tr>
Atomic weight (mass)<\/td>167.259 g.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
Group (number)<\/td>3 (Block F – Rare earth lanthanides)<\/td><\/tr>
Period<\/td>6<\/td><\/tr>
Color<\/td>A lustrous silvery-white metal<\/td><\/tr>
Physical state<\/td>Solid at 20\u00b0C<\/td><\/tr>
Half-life<\/td>From 200 ms to 9.4 days<\/td><\/tr>
Electronegativity according to Pauling<\/td>N\/A<\/td><\/tr>
Density<\/td>9.2 g.cm-3 at 20\u00b0C<\/td><\/tr>
Melting point<\/td>1529\u00b0C, 2784\u00b0F, 1802 K<\/td><\/tr>
Boiling point<\/td>2868\u00b0C, 5194\u00b0F, 3141 K<\/td><\/tr>
Van der Waals radius<\/td>N\/A<\/td><\/tr>
Ionic radius<\/td>(+3)100 ppm<\/td><\/tr>
Isotopes<\/td>9<\/td><\/tr>
Most characteristic isotope<\/td>166Er<\/td><\/tr>
Electronic shell<\/td>[Xe] 4f126s2<\/td><\/tr>
The energy of the first ionization<\/td>587.6 kJ.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
The energy of the second ionization<\/td>1149 kJ.mol-1<\/td><\/tr>
Discovery date<\/td>In 1843 by Carl Gustaf Mosander<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the periodic table symbol Er, atomic number 68, atomic mass of 167.259 g.mol<\/span>-1<\/span>, atomic radius 175 pm, and electron configuration [Xe] 4f<\/span>12<\/span>6s<\/span>2<\/span>, the pure metal form of erbium is soft and ductile. This member of the lanthanides family of elements in the periodic table has 3, 2, and 1 oxidation states. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erbium reaches its boiling point at 2868\u00b0C (5194\u00b0F, 3141 K) while the melting point is achieved at 1529\u00b0C (2784\u00b0F, 1802 K). It readily dissolves in acids, while it slowly reacts with oxygen<\/a> and water molecules. In both ultraviolet and infrared light, erbium displays sharp absorption spectra. In addition, erbium has a hexagonal structure of closely positioned atoms. Er3+ is fluorescent and emits glowing illumination under daylight, as well as a fluorescent light.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Was Erbium Discovered?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1843, the Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander (1797 – 1858) recognized the new elements erbium and terbium<\/a> while analyzing the trace impurities found in erbia (the oxide of erbium) while conducting his chemical research in Stockholm, Sweden. Several decades earlier, these impurities have been detected by the Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin (1760 – 1852) while he was attempting to analyze a sample obtained from the mineral gadolinite, obtained from a mine near the small Swedish town of Ytterby.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While conducting his scientific research, Mosander detected three new oxides, which he labeled as \u201cyttria\u201d (yttrium<\/a> oxide), \u2018\u2019erbia\u2019\u2019 (erbium oxide), and \u2018\u2019terbia\u2019\u2019 (terbium oxide). However, the Swedish chemist did not manage to isolate the pure form of erbium in his experimental attempts. A sample of pure erbium metal was not produced until 1934. That year, the two chemists Wilhelm Klemm and Heinrich Bommer attempted to reduce anhydrous erbium(III) chloride with potassium<\/a> vapor. Their experiment finally produced the pure metallic form of the radioactive element erbium. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1878, the French chemical scientist Jean-Charles Galissard de Marignac from the University of Geneva succeeded in isolating yet another individual substance from the erbium. It was the chemical element ytterbium<\/a> which also produced another chemical element out of its impure form – the scandium<\/a> element. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relatively pure form of Er2O3 was produced in 1905, by French chemist Georges Urbain and his American colleague Charles James, a chemistry professor at the University of New Hampshire, United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Did Erbium Get Its Name?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The name of this chemical element is given after the city where gadolinite is found – the Swedish town of Ytterby. Apart from erbium, this little village also served as naming inspiration for the chemical elements ytterbium, yttrium, and terbium.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where Can You Find Erbium?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being a rare-earth element, erbium is not found in nature in its elemental form. It\u2019s obtained mostly from laterite ionic clays and the ores containing monazite, xenotime, euxenite, as well as bastnasite minerals by ion exchange and liquid-liquid solvent extraction. Traces of this chemical element can also be found in the Universe, the Sun, meteors, as well as in the ocean.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

China, Russia, and Malaysia are the world\u2019s leading countries in the production of erbium, while the list of the world\u2019s top three countries that hold the largest erbium reserves is made up of China, CIS countries (together with Russia), and the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Erbium in Everyday Life<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Broadly used in metallurgic industry, medicine, nuclear plants, application of erbium is also found in the following instances:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n