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Scandium

Scandium, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity propertiesresearch, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure,ionization energyabundance on Earthconductivity and thermal properties are included. 

Scandium is a metal that has many of the characteristics of the rare earth elements, particularly yttrium. It is a light material with a higher melting point than aluminum giving uses in aerospace and power generation systems. Scandium 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. It is a dopant in high power and high intensity lighting glass and added to mercury vapor lamps with a very white light. It has demonstrated applications as a dopant in cerium ceramic electrolytes used for oxygen generation and solid oxide fuel cells. 

Scandium 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 nanopowders provide 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. Scandium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries. 

Scandium is a Block D, Group 3, Period 4 element. The number of electrons in each of Scandium‘s shells is 2, 8, 9, 2 and its electronic configuration is [Ar] 3d1 4s2. In its elemental form scandium‘s CAS number is 7440-20-2. The scandium atom has a radius of 160.6.pm and it‘s Van der Waals radius is 200.pm. Scandium is mildly 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) isotopesOrgano-Metallic Scandium 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. 

Scandium was first discovered by Lars Nilson in 1879. The origin of the name, Scandium, comes from the Latin word ‘Scandia‘ meaning Scandinavia.

Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of scandium and each of its naturally occurringisotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
Isotope Atomic Mass % Abundance on Earth
Sc-45 44.955910 100


The following table shows the abundance of Scandium 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 30 ppb
by Atom no data 1 ppb


Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for scandium metalnanoparticles 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. Scandium compounds have no biological role. 

Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for scandium (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 633.09 kJ mol-1
2nd Ionization Energy 1234.99 kJ mol-1
3rd Ionization Energy 2388.67 kJ mol-1


Conductivity. As to scandium‘s electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ?C is 61 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.36. The thermal conductivity of scandium is 15.8 W m-1 K-1. 

Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for scandium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
Heat of Fusion 15.9 kJ mol-1
Heat of Vaporization 376.1 kJ mol-1
Heat of Atomization 376.02 kJ mol-1


Formula Atomic Number Molecular Weight Electronegativity (Pauling) Density Melting Point Boiling Point Vanderwaals radius Ionic radius Energy of first ionization
Sc 21 44.9559 g.mol-1 Unknown 3.1 g.cm-3 at 20 °C 1541 °C 2836 °C 200.pm 0.083 nm (+3) 633.09 kJ.mol-1