Ytterbium(III) oxide

Chemical properties

Ytterbium (III) oxide is white powder and pieces, has no odour, is insoluble in water, and is incompatible with strong acids, oxidising agents, and carbon dioxide.

Physical properties

Colorless cubic crystals when pure; tinted brown or yellowish white in presence of thulia; density 9.17 g/cm³; insoluble in water; soluble in hot dilute acids.

The Uses of Ytterbium(III) oxide

Ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) is used to make special alloys, ceramics, and glass. It can be used for carbon arc-lamp electrodes that produce a very bright light.

The Uses of Ytterbium(III) oxide

Ytterbium(III) oxide is being applied to numerous fiber amplifier and fiber optic technologies. High purity Ytterbium Oxide are widely applied as a doping agent for garnet crystals in lasers a important colorant in glasses and porcelain enamel glazes.. As Ytterbium Oxide has a significantly higher emissivity in the infrared range a higher radiant intensity is obtained with Ytterbium-based payloads.

Preparation

Ytterbium oxide is produced as an intermediate in recovering ytterbium from minerals (See Ytterbium). After opening the ore by digestion with concentrated sulfuric acid or caustic soda solution at high temperatures, rare earths are separated by ion exchange, solvent extraction, or fractional precipitation. Ytterbium fraction is treated with oxalic acid or sodium oxalate to precipitate ytterbium oxalate, which is ignited to yield ytterbium oxide.

Flammability and Explosibility

Not classified