Yttrium

Author: Robert Husted, Mollie Boorman

History

(Ytterby, a village in Sweden near Vauxholm) Yttria - earth containing yttrium - was discovered by Gadolin in 1794. Ytterby is the site of a quarry which yielded many unusual minerals containing rare earths and other elements. This small town, near Stockholm, bears the honor of giving names to erbium, terbium, and ytterbium as well as yttrium.

In 1843 Mosander showed that yttira could be resolved into the oxides (or earths) of three elements. The name yttria was reserved for the most basic one; the others were named erbia and terbia.

Sources

Yttrium occurs in nearly all of the rare-earth minerals. Analysis of lunar rock samples obtained during the Apollo missions show a relatively high yttrium content.

It is recovered commercially from monazite sand, which contains about 3%, and from bastnasite, which contains about 0.2%. Wohler obtained the impure element in 1828 by reduction of the anhydrous chloride with potassium. The metal is now produced commercially by reduction of the fluoride with calcium metal. It can also be prepared by other techniques.

Properties

Yttrium has a silver-metallic luster and is relatively stable in air. Turnings of the metal, however, ignite in air if their temperature exceeds 400°C. Finely divided yttrium is very unstable in air.

Uses

Yttrium oxide is one of the most important compounds of yttrium and accounts for the largest use. It is widely used in making YVO₄ europium, and Y₂O₃ europium phosphors to give the red color in color television tubes. Hundreds of thousands of pounds are now used in this application.

Yttrium oxide also is used to produce yttrium-iron-garnets, which are very effective microwave filters.

Yttrium iron, aluminum, and gadolinium garnets, with formulas such as Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ and Y₃Al₅O₁₂, have interesting magnetic properties. Yttrium iron garnet is also exceptionally efficient as both a transmitter and transducer of acoustic energy. Yttrium aluminum garnet, with a hardness of 8.5, is also finding use as a gemstone (simulated diamond).

Small amounts of yttrium (0.1 to 0.2%) can be used to reduce the grain size in chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, and titanium, and to increase strength of aluminum and magnesium alloys.

Alloys with other useful properties can be obtained by using yttrium as an additive. The metal can be used as a deoxidizer for vanadium and other nonferrous metals. The metal has a low cross section for nuclear capture. ⁹⁰Y, one of the isotopes of yttrium, exists in equilibrium with its parent ⁹⁰Sr, a product of nuclear explosions. Yttrium has been considered for use as a nodulizer for producing nodular cast iron, in which the graphite forms compact nodules instead of the usual flakes. Such iron has increased ductility.

Yttrium also can be used in laser systems and as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization reactions.

It also has potential use in ceramic and glass formulas, as the oxide has a high melting point and imparts shock resistance and low expansion characteristics to glass.

Isotopes

Natural yttrium contains one isotope, ⁸⁹Y. Nineteen other unstable isotopes have been characterized.