Lutetium.

lutetius - metal silvery-white color, easy to machin. It is the heaviest element among lanthanides in both atomic weight and density (9.8404 g/cm3). The melting point of lutetium (1663 °C) is the highest among all rare earth elements. Due to the effect of lanthanide compression, lutetium has the smallest atomic and ionic radii among all lanthanides.

Chemical properties

At room temperature in air, lutetium is covered with a dense oxide film, at a temperature of 400 ° C it is oxidized. When heated, it interacts with halogens, sulfur and other non-metals.

Lutetium reacts with inorganic acids to form salts. When water-soluble lutetium salts (chlorides, sulfates, acetates, nitrates) are evaporated, crystallohydrates are formed.

When aqueous solutions of lutetium salts interact with hydrofluoric acid, a very little soluble lutetium fluoride lutetium lutetium fluoride sludge LuF3 is formed. The same compound can be obtained by reacting lutetium oxide Lu2O3 with fluoride gas or fluorine.

Metallurgy

Adding lutetium to chromium and its alloys gives better mechanical characteristics and improves manufacturability.

In recent years, significant interest in lutetium is due, for example, to the fact that when lutetium alloys a number of heat-resistant materials and alloys on a chromium-nickel basis sharply increases their service life.

Production: China.