Erbium , including Technical Data, Safety Data and its High Purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure,ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included. 

Erbium has application in glass coloring, as an amplifier in fiber optics, and in lasers for medical and dental use. Erbium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. The ion has a very narrow absorption band coloring erbium salts pink. It is therefore used in eyeware and decorative glassware. It can neutralize discoloring impurities such as ferric ions and produce a neutral gray shade. It is used in a variety of glass products for this purpose. It is particularly useful as an amplifier for fiber optic data transfer. Erbium lases at the wavelength required to provide an efficient optical method of amplification, 1.55 microns. Lasers based on Er:YAG are ideally suited for surgical applications because of its ability to deliver energy without thermal build-up in tissue. 

Erbium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes.Nanoparticles and nanopowdersprovide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits. 

Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Erbium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries. 

Erbium is a Block F, Group 3, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Erbium‘s shells is 2, 8, 18, 30, 8, 2 and its electronic configuration is [Xe]4f12 6s2. In its elemental form erbium‘s CAS number is 7440-52-0. The erbium atom has a radius of 173.4.pm and it‘s Van der Waals radius is unknown. Erbium is moderately toxic. 

All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Erbium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis. 

Erbium is named after the Swedish town, Ytterby and was first discovered by Carl Mosander in 1843. Erbium is found in monazite sand ores.

Erbium Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of Erbium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope. Isotope Atomic Mass % Abundance on Earth Er-162 161.929 0.14 Er-164 163.929 1.61 Er-166 165.930 33.6 Er-167 166.932 22.95 Er-168 167.932 26.8 Er-170 169.935 14.9 The following table shows the abundance of Erbium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:   Typical Human Body Universe by Weight no data 2 ppb by Atom no data 0.01 ppb Erbium Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for Erbium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Erbium compounds have no biological role.  Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for Erbium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it‘s ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:  1st Ionization Energy 589.31 kJ mol-1 2nd Ionization Energy 1151.08 kJ mol-1 3rd Ionization Energy 2194.09 kJ mol-1 Conductivity. As to Erbium‘s electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured in terms of electrical resistivity @ 20 ?C is 107 ?Ocm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.24. The thermal conductivity of Erbium is 14.3 W m-1 K-1.  Thermal Properties of Erbium. The melting point and boiling point for Erbium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization. Heat of Fusion 17.2 kJ mol-1 Heat of Vaporization 280 kJ mol-1 Heat of Atomization 318.32 kJ mol-1

Formula Atomic Number Molecular Weight Electronegativity (Pauling) Density Melting Point Boiling Point Vanderwaals radius Ionic radius Energy of first ionization ER 68 167.26 g.mol-1 1.2 9.2 g.cm-3 at 20 °C 1522 °C 2510 °C unknown unknown 587.6 kJ.mol-1