Yttrium

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Yttrium

Yttrium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Y and atomic number 39. A silvery metallic transition metal, yttrium is common in rare-earth minerals and two of its compounds are used to make the red color phosphors in cathode ray tube displays, such as those used for televisions.

Notable Characteristics

Yttrium is a silver-metallic, lustrous rare earth metal that is relatively stable in air and chemically resembles the lanthanides. Shavings or turnings of the metal can ignite in air when they exceed 400 °C. When yttrium is finely divided it is very unstable in air. The metal has a low neutron cross-section for nuclear capture. The common oxidation state of yttrium is +3.

Applications

Yttrium(III) oxide is the most important yttrium compound and is widely used to make YV O₄:Eu and Y₂O₃:Eu phosphors that give the red color in color television picture tubes. Other uses;

Yttrium oxide is also used to make yttrium iron garnets which are very effective microwave filters.
Yttrium iron, aluminium, and gadolinium garnets (e.g. Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ and Y₃Al₅O₁₂) have interesting magnetic properties. Yttrium iron garnet is very efficient as an acoustic energy transmitter and transducer. Yttrium aluminium garnet has a hardness of 8.5 and is also used as a gemstone (simulated diamond).
Small amounts of the element (0.1 to 0.2%) have been used to reduce grain size of chromium, molybdenum, titanium, and zirconium. It is also used to increase the strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys.
Used as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization.
Yttrium aluminium garnet, yttrium lithium fluoride, and yttrium vanadate are used in combination with dopants such as neodymium or erbium in infrared lasers.
This metal can be used to deoxidize vanadium and other nonferrous metals.
Yttrium is also used in the manufacture of gas mantles for propane lanterns, as a replacement for thorium, which is slightly radioactive.
Cerium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG:Ce) crystals are used as phosphors to make white LEDs.
Yttrium was used as a "secret" element in a superconductor developed at the University of Houston, YBaCuO. This superconductor operated above 90K, an amazing feat because it can operate at above liquid nitrogen's boiling point. (Y_1.2Ba_0.8CuO₄). The matter created was a multi-crystal multi-phase mineral, of which were black and green.

Yttrium has been studied for possible use as a nodulizer in the making of nodular cast iron which has increased ductility (the graphite forms compact nodules instead of flakes to form nodular cast iron). Potentially, yttrium can be used in ceramic and glass formulas, since yttrium oxide has a high melting point and imparts shock resistance and low thermal expansion characteristics to glass.

History

Yttrium (named for Ytterby, a Swedish village near Vaxholm) was discovered by Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist Johan Gadolin in 1794 and isolated by Friedrich Wohler in 1828 as an impure extract of yttria through the reduction of yttrium anhydrous chloride (YCl₃) with potassium. Yttria (Y₂O₃) is the oxide of yttrium and was discovered by Johan Gadolin in 1794 in a gadolinite mineral from Ytterby.

In 1843, a Swedish chemist by the name of Carl Mosander was able to show that yttria could be divided into the oxides (or earths) of three different elements. "Yttria" was the name used for the most basic one and the others were named erbia and terbia.

A quarry is located near the village of Ytterby that yielded many unusual minerals that contained rare earths and other elements. The elements erbium, terbium, and ytterbium, and yttrium have all been named after this same town.

Occurrence

This element is found in almost all rare earth minerals and in uranium ores but is never found in nature as a free element. Yttrium is commercially recovered from monazite sand (3% content, href="http://articles.gourt.com/en/cerium">Ce, La, etc.)PO₄) and from bastnasite (0.2% content, La, etc.)(CO₃)F). It is commercially produced by reducing yttrium fluoride with calcium metal but it can also be produced using other techniques. It is difficult to separate from other rare earths and when extracted, is a dark gray powder.

Lunar Rock samples from the Apollo program have a relatively high yttrium content.

See also Yttrium minerals.

Isotopes

Natural yttrium is composed of only one isotope (Y-89). The most stable radioisotopes are Y-88 which has a half life of 106.65 days and Y-91 with a half life of 58.51 days. All the other isotopes have half lifes of less than a day except Y-87 which has a half life of 79.8 hours. The dominant decay mode below the stable Y-89 is electron capture and the dominant mode after it is beta emission. Twenty six unstable isotopes have been characterized.

Y-90 exists in equilibrium with its parent isotope strontium-90, which is a product of nuclear explosions.

Precautions

Compounds that contain this element are rarely encountered by most people but should be considered to be highly toxic even though many compounds pose little risk. Yttrium salts may be carcinogenic. This element is not normally found in human tissue and plays no known biological role.

References

Los Alamos National Laboratory – Yttrium

External links

WebElements.com – Yttrium

Chemical elements | Transition metals

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