Lutetium metal

General

Lutetium is a chemical element with the element symbol Lu and the atomic number 71. In the periodic table it is in the group of lanthanides and thus also belongs to the metals of the rare earths.
Lutetium was discovered by 1905 independently by three scientists: Carl Auer von Welsbach, Charles James and the Frenchman Georges Urbain, who named it after the Roman name of Paris, Lutetia. In the German-speaking world it was until 1949 usually referred to as Cassiopeium (chemical symbol Cp).
In nature, lutetium occurs only in compounds. Low-concentration lutetium-containing minerals are:
Monazite (Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y) PO4 (Lu content <0,01%)

Recovery

After a complex separation of the other Lutetiumbegleiter the oxide is reacted with hydrogen fluoride to Lutetiumfluorid. Subsequently, this is reduced with calcium to form metallic lutetium with the formation of calcium fluoride. Separation of remaining calcium residues and impurities takes place in an additional remelting in vacuo.

Features

The silver-gray metal is very soft, well stretchable and malleable. In dry air lutetium is quite stable, in moist air it turns gray. At higher temperatures, it burns to the sesquioxide Lu2O3. With water, it reacts very slowly with evolution of hydrogen to the hydroxide. In mineral acids, it dissolves to form hydrogen.
In its compounds it is present in the oxidation state + 3, the Lu3 + cations form colorless solutions in water.

Lutetium in the periodic table

Usage

Lutetium is used in scintillator crystals for positron emission tomography. One of the most prominent examples is cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO). The radionuclide 177Lu can be used as a therapy against neuroendocrine tumors.
No biological function has yet been found for lutetium.
Lutetium and lutetium compounds are low in toxicity. The metal dusts are flammable and explosive, like many others.

Lutetium price

Prices of Lutetium -> prices for rare earths