16 Facts About Terbium

Terbium is a chemical element with the symbol Tb and atomic number 65.

Terbium is never found in nature as a free element, but it is contained in many minerals, including cerite, gadolinite, monazite, xenotime and euxenite.

Terbium was not isolated in pure form until the advent of ion exchange techniques.

Terbium is used to dope calcium fluoride, calcium tungstate and strontium molybdate in solid-state devices, and as a crystal stabilizer of fuel cells that operate at elevated temperatures.

Terbium oxide is in fluorescent lamps and television and monitor cathode-ray tubes .

Terbium is a silvery-white rare earth metal that is malleable, ductile and soft enough to be cut with a knife.

Terbium cation is brilliantly fluorescent, in a bright lemon-yellow color that is the result of a strong green emission line in combination with other lines in the orange and red.

Terbium has a simple ferromagnetic ordering at temperatures below 219 K Above 219 K, it turns into a helical antiferromagnetic state in which all of the atomic moments in a particular basal plane layer are parallel, and oriented at a fixed angle to the moments of adjacent layers.

Terbium metal is an electropositive element and oxidizes in the presence of most acids, all of the halogens, and even water.

Terbium halogenides are obtained by annealing Tb halogenides in presence of metallic Tb in tantalum containers.

Terbium fluoride is a strong fluorinating agent, emitting relatively pure atomic fluorine when heated, rather than the mixture of fluoride vapors emitted from or.

Terbium was not isolated in pure form until the advent of ion exchange techniques.

Terbium is separated as a double salt with ammonium nitrate by crystallization.

Terbium is used in alloys and in the production of electronic devices.

Terbium oxide is used in green phosphors in fluorescent lamps and color TV tubes.

Terbium is used to detect endospores, as it acts as an assay of dipicolinic acid based on photoluminescence.