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Yttrium
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Not to be confused with element ytterbium (Yb).

Yttrium is a chemical element with the symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-

metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a
"rare-earth element".[5] Yttrium is almost always found in combination with lanthanide elements
in rare-earth minerals, and is never found in nature as a free element. 89Y is the only
stable isotope, and the only isotope found in the Earth's crust.
Yttrium, 39Y

Yttrium

Pronunciation /ˈɪtriəm/ (IT-ree-əm)

Appearance silvery white

Standard atomic 88.90584(1)[1]

weight Ar, std(Y)

Yttrium in the periodic table

H H
y e
d l
r i
o u
g m
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n
LB BCNOFN
ie oai xl e
tr r r t yuo
hy obr gon
il nooe r
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mi e n
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m
SM ASPSCA
oa l i huhr
S
dg ul ol l g c
in mi s f oo
ue i cpur n
ms nohr i
i i no n
u u r e
m mu
s
PC STVCMI CNCZGGASBK
oa c it aha r oi oi aer e r r
tl a a nr nobc pnl r s l oy
ac nn aognak pc l me e mp
si di dma l e e i anni t
su i u i i n t l r uni i no
im umuue mi c uen
u m mms u m
m e m
RS YZNMTRRPSCI TATI X
ut t i i oe uha i a ni ne oe
 br t r ol c t olll ddnt l dn
io r c byhhda vmi i l i o
dn i o i bnei d e i u munn
it n ude nui r um or e
u
ui i me t i mu m ni
m
mu u ni u m yu
m m uum m
mm
CBLCP NPSEGTDHETYLHTTROI PGMTLBPAR
aaaer e r auaeyor h t ua auhs r l oe hei os a
er nr a oomr dr s l bu t t f nne mi a l r aas l t d
s i t i s dmaoobpmi l ee n t gni dtidc l dmoao
i uhue ye r pl i r i ui r t i as i ui n ul unt n
umamo mt i i i uoumu bi u l t umuu r i t i i
m n d i huunms m mi umue m mm yu hun
u y ui mmi i um mn ( m me
m mmu u u m e
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u e
m m
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FRATP UNPACBCEFMNLRDSBHMDRCNFMLTO
r achr r e l muea i ee oa u ue oaea ooi l oi eg
adt oo a puer r l nr n bwt ba hs i r e phes vna
ni i r t nt t r i ki s md er h nbr s t mne or ce nn
cuni a i uoi uef t i e l e e i oi i ns t r noor ee
i mi uc unncml oe ul i nr ur uuet gni vvms s
u umti mi i i i r i me uc f mgmmr a e i ui i os s
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i mmm mi i i ur u utii i mmi nn
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m mm m i mmm m
u
m

strontium ← yttrium → zirconium

Atomic number (Z) 39

Group group 3
 Period period 5

Block   d-block

Electron configuration [Kr] 4d1 5s2

Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 9, 2

Physical properties

Phase at STP solid

Melting point 1799 K (1526 °C, 2779 °F)

Boiling point 3203 K (2930 °C, 5306 °F)

Density (near r.t.) 4.472 g/cm3

when liquid (at m.p.) 4.24 g/cm3

Heat of fusion 11.42 kJ/mol

Heat of vaporization 363 kJ/mol

Molar heat capacity 26.53 J/(mol·K)

Vapor pressure

P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 

k

at T ( 188 207 (232 (262 (303 (360

K) 3 5 0) 7) 6) 7)

Atomic properties

Oxidation states 0,[2] +1,

+2, +3 (a weakly basic oxi
de)
 Electronegativity Pauling scale: 1.22

Ionization energies  1st: 600 kJ/mol

 2nd: 1180 kJ/mol
 3rd: 1980 kJ/mol


Atomic radius empirical: 180 pm

Covalent radius 190±7 pm

Spectral lines of yttrium

Other properties

Natural occurrence primordial

Crystal structure hexagonal close-packed (h

cp)

Speed of sound thin rod 3300 m/s (at 20 °C)

Thermal expansion α, poly: 10.6 µm/(m·K)

(at r.t.)

Thermal conductivity 17.2 W/(m·K)

Electrical resistivity α, poly: 596 nΩ·m (at r.t.)

Magnetic ordering paramagnetic[3]

Magnetic susceptibility +2.15·10−6 cm3/mol

 (2928 K)[4]

Young's modulus 63.5 GPa

Shear modulus 25.6 GPa

Bulk modulus 41.2 GPa

Poisson ratio 0.243

Brinell hardness 200–589 MPa

CAS Number 7440-65-5

History

Naming after Ytterby (Sweden)
and its
mineral ytterbite (gadolini
te)

Discovery Johan Gadolin (1794)

First isolation Friedrich Wöhler (1838)

Main isotopes of yttrium

Iso- Abun- Half-life  Decay Pro-

tope dance (t1/2) mode duct

ε Sr
87

87
Y syn 3.4 d
γ –

ε Sr
88

88
Y syn 106.6 d
γ –
 89
Y 100% stable

β−
Zr
90

90
Y syn 2.7 d
γ –

β− Zr
91

91
Y syn 58.5 d
γ –

 Category: Yttrium

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The most important uses of yttrium are LEDs and phosphors, particularly the red phosphors in
television set cathode ray tube displays.[6] Yttrium is also used in the production
of electrodes, electrolytes, electronic filters, lasers, superconductors, various medical
applications, and tracing various materials to enhance their properties.
Yttrium has no known biological role. Exposure to yttrium compounds can cause lung disease in
humans.[7]
The name is historical and comes from the village of Ytterby, in Sweden where, in 1787, the
chemist Arrhenius found a new mineral and named it ytterbite.
CharacteristicsEdit
PropertiesEdit
Yttrium is a soft, silver-metallic, lustrous and highly crystalline transition metal in group 3. As
expected by periodic trends, it is less electronegative than its predecessor in the group, scandium,
and less electronegative than the next member of period 5, zirconium; additionally, it is more
electronegative than lanthanum, but less electronegative than lutetium due to the lanthanide
contraction.[8][9][10] Yttrium is the first d-block element in the fifth period.
The pure element is relatively stable in air in bulk form, due to passivation of a protective oxide
(Y
2O

3) film that forms on the surface. This film can reach a thickness of 10 µm when yttrium is heated

to 750 °C in water vapor.[11] When finely divided, however, yttrium is very unstable in air;

shavings or turnings of the metal can ignite in air at temperatures exceeding 400 °C.[12] Yttrium
nitride (YN) is formed when the metal is heated to 1000 °C in nitrogen.[11]
Similarity to the lanthanidesEdit
Further information: Rare-earth element
The similarities of yttrium to the lanthanides are so strong that the element has historically been
grouped with them as a rare-earth element,[5] and is always found in nature together with them
in rare-earth minerals.[13] Chemically, yttrium resembles those elements more closely than its
neighbor in the periodic table, scandium,[14] and if physical properties were plotted
against atomic number, it would have an apparent number of 64.5 to 67.5, placing it between the
lanthanides gadolinium and erbium.[15]
It often also falls in the same range for reaction order,[11] resembling terbium and dysprosium in
its chemical reactivity.[6] Yttrium is so close in size to the so-called 'yttrium group' of heavy
lanthanide ions that in solution, it behaves as if it were one of them.[11][16] Even though the
lanthanides are one row farther down the periodic table than yttrium, the similarity in atomic
radius may be attributed to the lanthanide contraction.[17]
One of the few notable differences between the chemistry of yttrium and that of the lanthanides
is that yttrium is almost exclusively trivalent, whereas about half the lanthanides can have
valences other than three; nevertheless, only for four of the fifteen lanthanides are these other
valences important in aqueous solution (CeIV, SmII, EuII, and YbII).[11]
Compounds and reactionsEdit
See also: Category:Yttrium compounds

Left: Soluble yttrium salts reacts with carbonate, forming white precipitate yttrium carbonate. Right: Yttrium carbonate is
soluble in excess alkali metal carbonate solution

As a trivalent transition metal, yttrium forms various inorganic compounds, generally in the

oxidation state of +3, by giving up all three of its valence electrons.[18] A good example
is yttrium(III) oxide (Y
2O

3), also known as yttria, a six-coordinate white solid.[19]

Yttrium forms a water-insoluble fluoride, hydroxide, and oxalate, but

its bromide, chloride, iodide, nitrate and sulfate are all soluble in water.[11] The Y3+ ion is
colorless in solution because of the absence of electrons in the d and f electron shells.[11]
Water readily reacts with yttrium and its compounds to form Y
2O

3.[13] Concentrated nitric and hydrofluoric acids do not rapidly attack yttrium, but other strong

acids do.[11]
With halogens, yttrium forms trihalides such as yttrium(III) fluoride (YF
3), yttrium(III) chloride (YCl

3), and yttrium(III) bromide (YBr

3) at temperatures above roughly 200 °C.

[7] Similarly, carbon, phosphorus, selenium, silicon and sulfur all form binary compounds with
yttrium at elevated temperatures.[11]
Organoyttrium chemistry is the study of compounds containing carbon–yttrium bonds. A few of
these are known to have yttrium in the oxidation state 0.[2][20] (The +2 state has been observed in
chloride melts,[21] and +1 in oxide clusters in the gas phase.[22]) Some trimerization reactions
were generated with organoyttrium compounds as catalysts.[20] These syntheses use YCl
3 as a starting material, obtained from Y

2O

3 and concentrated hydrochloric acid and ammonium chloride.[23][24]

Hapticity is a term to describe the coordination of a group of contiguous atoms of a ligand bound

to the central atom; it is indicated by the Greek character eta, η. Yttrium complexes were the first
examples of complexes where carboranyl ligands were bound to a d0-metal center through a η7-
hapticity.[20] Vaporization of the graphite intercalation compounds graphite–Y or graphite–Y
2O

3 leads to the formation of endohedral fullerenes such as Y@C82.[6] Electron spin

resonance studies indicated the formation of Y3+ and (C82)3− ion pairs.[6] The carbides Y3C, Y2C,

and YC2 can be hydrolyzed to form hydrocarbons.[11]
Isotopes and nucleosynthesisEdit
Main article: Isotopes of yttrium

Yttrium in the Solar System was created through stellar nucleosynthesis, mostly by the s-

process (≈72%), but also by the r-process (≈28%).[25] The r-process consists of rapid neutron
capture by lighter elements during supernova explosions. The s-process is a slow neutron capture
of lighter elements inside pulsating red giant stars.[26]

Mira is an example of the type of red giant star in which most of the yttrium in the solar system was created

Yttrium isotopes are among the most common products of the nuclear fission of uranium in
nuclear explosions and nuclear reactors. In the context of nuclear waste management, the most
important isotopes of yttrium are 91Y and 90Y, with half-lives of 58.51 days and 64 hours,
respectively.[27] Though 90Y has a short half-life, it exists in secular equilibrium with its long-
lived parent isotope, strontium-90 (90Sr) with a half-life of 29 years.[12]
All group 3 elements have an odd atomic number, and therefore few stable isotopes.
[8] Scandium has one stable isotope, and yttrium itself has only one stable isotope, 89Y, which is
also the only isotope that occurs naturally. However, the lanthanide rare earths contain elements
of even atomic number and many stable isotopes. Yttrium-89 is thought to be more abundant
than it otherwise would be, due in part to the s-process, which allows enough time for isotopes
created by other processes to decay by electron emission (neutron → proton).[26][a] Such a slow
process tends to favor isotopes with atomic mass numbers (A = protons + neutrons) around 90,
138 and 208, which have unusually stable atomic nuclei with 50, 82, and 126 neutrons,
respectively.[26][b] This stability is thought to result from their very low neutron-capture cross-
section. (Greenwood 1997, pp. 12–13). Electron emission of isotopes with those mass numbers is
simply less prevalent due to this stability, resulting in them having a higher abundance.[12] 89Y
has a mass number close to 90 and has 50 neutrons in its nucleus.
At least 32 synthetic isotopes of yttrium have been observed, and these range in atomic mass
number from 76 to 108.[27] The least stable of these is 106Y with a half-life of >150 ns (76Y has a
half-life of >200 ns) and the most stable is 88Y with a half-life of 106.626 days.[27] Apart from the
isotopes 91Y, 87Y, and 90Y, with half-lives of 58.51 days, 79.8 hours, and 64 hours, respectively, all
the other isotopes have half-lives of less than a day and most of less than an hour.[27]
Yttrium isotopes with mass numbers at or below 88 decay primarily by positron emission (proton
→ neutron) to form strontium (Z = 38) isotopes.[27] Yttrium isotopes with mass numbers at or
above 90 decay primarily by electron emission (neutron → proton) to form zirconium (Z = 40)
isotopes.[27] Isotopes with mass numbers at or above 97 are also known to have minor decay
paths of β− delayed neutron emission.[28]
Yttrium has at least 20 metastable ("excited") isomers ranging in mass number from 78 to 102.
[27][c] Multiple excitation states have been observed for 80Y and 97Y.[27] While most of yttrium's
isomers are expected to be less stable than their ground state, 78mY, 84mY, 85mY, 96mY, 98m1Y, 100mY,
and 102mY have longer half-lives than their ground states, as these isomers decay by beta decay
rather than isomeric transition.[28]
HistoryEdit
In 1787, part-time chemist Carl Axel Arrhenius found a heavy black rock in an old quarry near
the Swedish village of Ytterby (now part of the Stockholm Archipelago).[29] Thinking it was an
unknown mineral containing the newly discovered element tungsten,[30] he named
it ytterbite[d] and sent samples to various chemists for analysis.[29]

Johan Gadolin discovered yttrium oxide

Johan Gadolin at the University of Åbo identified a new oxide (or "earth") in Arrhenius' sample
in 1789, and published his completed analysis in 1794.[31][e] Anders Gustaf Ekeberg confirmed
the identification in 1797 and named the new oxide yttria.[32] In the decades after Antoine
Lavoisier developed the first modern definition of chemical elements, it was believed that earths
could be reduced to their elements, meaning that the discovery of a new earth was equivalent to
the discovery of the element within, which in this case would have been yttrium.[f][33][34][35]
Friedrich Wöhler is credited with first isolating the metal in 1828 by reacting a volatile chloride
that he believed to be yttrium chloride with potassium.[36][37][38]
In 1843, Carl Gustaf Mosander found that samples of yttria contained three oxides: white yttrium
oxide (yttria), yellow terbium oxide (confusingly, this was called 'erbia' at the time) and rose-
colored erbium oxide (called 'terbia' at the time).[39][40] A fourth oxide, ytterbium oxide, was
isolated in 1878 by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac.[41] New elements were later isolated
from each of those oxides, and each element was named, in some fashion, after Ytterby, the
village near the quarry where they were found (see ytterbium, terbium, and erbium).[42] In the
following decades, seven other new metals were discovered in "Gadolin's yttria".[29] Since yttria
was found to be a mineral and not an oxide, Martin Heinrich Klaproth renamed it gadolinite in
honor of Gadolin.[29]
Until the early 1920s, the chemical symbol Yt was used for the element, after which Y came into
common use.[43]
In 1987, yttrium barium copper oxide was found to achieve high-temperature superconductivity.
[44] It was only the second material known to exhibit this property,[44] and it was the first-known
material to achieve superconductivity above the (economically important) boiling point of
nitrogen.[g]
OccurrenceEdit

Xenotime crystals contain yttrium

AbundanceEdit
Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals,[9] it is found in some uranium ores, but is never
found in the Earth's crust as a free element.[45] About 31 ppm of the Earth's crust is yttrium,
[6] making it the 28th most abundant element, 400 times more common than silver.[46] Yttrium is
found in soil in concentrations between 10 and 150 ppm (dry weight average of 23 ppm) and in
sea water at 9 ppt.[46] Lunar rock samples collected during the American Apollo Project have a
relatively high content of yttrium.[42]
Yttrium has no known biological role, though it is found in most, if not all, organisms and tends
to concentrate in the liver, kidney, spleen, lungs, and bones of humans.[47] Normally, as little as
0.5 milligrams is found in the entire human body; human breast milk contains 4 ppm.[48] Yttrium
can be found in edible plants in concentrations between 20 ppm and 100 ppm (fresh weight),
with cabbage having the largest amount.[48] With as much as 700 ppm, the seeds of woody plants
have the highest known concentrations.[48]
As of April 2018 there are reports of the discovery of very large reserves of rare-earth elements
on a tiny Japanese island. Minami-Torishima Island, also known as Marcus Island, is described
as having "tremendous potential" for rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY), according to a
study published in Scientific Reports. "This REY-rich mud has great potential as a rare-earth
metal resource because of the enormous amount available and its advantageous mineralogical
features," the study reads. The study shows that more than 16 million tons of rare-earth elements
could be "exploited in the near future." Including yttrium (Y), which is used in products like
camera lenses and mobile phone screens, the rare-earth elements found are europium (Eu),
terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy).[49]
ProductionEdit
Since yttrium is chemically so similar to the lanthanides, it occurs in the same ores (rare-earth
minerals) and is extracted by the same refinement processes. A slight distinction is recognized
between the light (LREE) and the heavy rare-earth elements (HREE), but the distinction is not
perfect. Yttrium is concentrated in the HREE group because of its ion size, though it has a
lower atomic mass.[50][51]

A piece of yttrium. Yttrium is difficult to separate from other rare-earth elements.

Rare-earth elements (REEs) come mainly from four sources:[52]

 Carbonate and fluoride containing ores such as the LREE bastnäsite ([(Ce, La, etc.)(CO3)F])
contain an average of 0.1%[12][50] of yttrium compared to the 99.9% for the 16 other REEs.
[50] The main source for bastnäsite from the 1960s to the 1990s was the Mountain Pass rare earth
mine in California, making the United States the largest producer of REEs during that period. [50]
[52] The name "bastnäsite" is actually a group name, and the Levinson suffix is used in the correct
mineral names, e.g., bästnasite-(Y) has Y as a prevailing element. [53][54][55]
 Monazite ([(Ce, La, etc.)PO4]), which is mostly phosphate, is a placer deposit of sand created by
the transportation and gravitational separation of eroded granite. Monazite as a LREE ore
contains 2%[50] (or 3%)[56] yttrium. The largest deposits were found in India and Brazil in the
early 20th century, making those two countries the largest producers of yttrium in the first half of
that century.[50][52] Of the monazite group, the Ce-dominant member, monazite-(Ce), is the most
common one.[57]
 Xenotime, a REE phosphate, is the main HREE ore containing as much as 60% yttrium
as yttrium phosphate (YPO4).[50] This applies to xenotime-(Y).[55][58][54] The largest mine is
 the Bayan Obo deposit in China, making China the largest exporter for HREE since the closure of
the Mountain Pass mine in the 1990s.[50][52]
 Ion absorption clays or Lognan clays are the weathering products of granite and contain only 1%
of REEs.[50] The final ore concentrate can contain as much as 8% yttrium. Ion absorption clays
are mostly in southern China.[50][52][59] Yttrium is also found
in samarskite and fergusonite (which also stand for group names).[46]

One method for obtaining pure yttrium from the mixed oxide ores is to dissolve the oxide
in sulfuric acid and fractionate it by ion exchange chromatography. With the addition of oxalic
acid, the yttrium oxalate precipitates. The oxalate is converted into the oxide by heating under
oxygen. By reacting the resulting yttrium oxide with hydrogen fluoride, yttrium fluoride is
obtained.[60] When quaternary ammonium salts are used as extractants, most yttrium will remain
in the aqueous phase. When the counter-ion is nitrate, the light lanthanides are removed, and
when the counter-ion is thiocyanate, the heavy lanthanides are removed. In this way, yttrium
salts of 99.999% purity are obtained. In the usual situation, where yttrium is in a mixture that is
two-thirds heavy-lanthanide, yttrium should be removed as soon as possible to facilitate the
separation of the remaining elements.
Annual world production of yttrium oxide had reached 600 tonnes by 2001; by 2014 it had
increased to 7,000 tons.[46][61] Global reserves of yttrium oxide were estimated in 2014 to be
more than 500,000 tons. The leading countries for these reserves included Australia, Brazil,
China, India, and the United States.[61] Only a few tonnes of yttrium metal are produced each
year by reducing yttrium fluoride to a metal sponge with calcium magnesium alloy. The
temperature of an arc furnace of greater than 1,600 °C is sufficient to melt the yttrium.[46][60]
ApplicationsEdit
ConsumerEdit

Yttrium is one of the elements that was used to make the red color in CRT televisions

The red component of color television cathode ray tubes is typically emitted from a yttria (Y
2O

3) or yttrium oxide sulfide (Y

2O

2S) host lattice doped with europium (III) cation (Eu ) phosphors.[12][6][h] The red color itself is

3+

emitted from the europium while the yttrium collects energy from the electron gun and passes it
to the phosphor.[62] Yttrium compounds can serve as host lattices for doping with
different lanthanide cations. Tb3+ can be used as a doping agent to produce green luminescence. As
such yttrium compounds such as yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) are useful for phosphors and
are an important component of white LEDs.
Yttria is used as a sintering additive in the production of porous silicon nitride.[63]
Yttrium compounds are used as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization.[12] As a metal, yttrium is
used on the electrodes of some high-performance spark plugs.[64] Yttrium is used in gas
mantles for propane lanterns as a replacement for thorium, which is radioactive.[65]
Currently under development is yttrium-stabilized zirconia as a solid electrolyte and as
an oxygen sensor in automobile exhaust systems.[6]
GarnetsEdit

Nd:YAG laser rod 0.5 cm in diameter

Yttrium is used in the production of a large variety of synthetic garnets,[66] and yttria is used to
make yttrium iron garnets (Y
3Fe

5O

12, also "YIG"), which are very effective microwave filters[12] which were recently shown to have

magnetic interactions more complex and longer-ranged than understood over the previous four
decades.[67] Yttrium, iron, aluminium, and gadolinium garnets (e.g. Y3(Fe,Al)5O12 and
Y3(Fe,Ga)5O12) have important magnetic properties.[12] YIG is also very efficient as an acoustic
energy transmitter and transducer.[68] Yttrium aluminium garnet (Y
3Al

5O

12 or YAG) has a hardness of 8.5 and is also used as a gemstone in jewelry (simulated diamond).

[12] Cerium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG:Ce) crystals are used as phosphors to make
white LEDs.[69][70][71]
YAG, yttria, yttrium lithium fluoride (LiYF
4), and yttrium orthovanadate (YVO

4) are used in combination with dopants such as neodymium, erbium, ytterbium in near-

infrared lasers.[72][73] YAG lasers can operate at high power and are used for drilling and cutting
metal.[56] The single crystals of doped YAG are normally produced by the Czochralski process.
[74]
Material enhancerEdit
Small amounts of yttrium (0.1 to 0.2%) have been used to reduce the grain sizes
of chromium, molybdenum, titanium, and zirconium.[75] Yttrium is used to increase
the strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys.[12] The addition of yttrium to alloys generally
improves workability, adds resistance to high-temperature recrystallization, and significantly
enhances resistance to high-temperature oxidation (see graphite nodule discussion below).[62]
Yttrium can be used to deoxidize vanadium and other non-ferrous metals.[12] Yttria stabilizes
the cubic form of zirconia in jewelry.[76]
Yttrium has been studied as a nodulizer in ductile cast iron, forming the graphite into compact
nodules instead of flakes to increase ductility and fatigue resistance.[12] Having a high melting
point, yttrium oxide is used in some ceramic and glass to impart shock resistance and
low thermal expansion properties.[12] Those same properties make such glass useful in camera
lenses.[46]
MedicalEdit
The radioactive isotope yttrium-90 is used in drugs such as Yttrium Y 90-DOTA-tyr3-
octreotide and Yttrium Y 90 ibritumomab tiuxetan for the treatment of various cancers,
including lymphoma, leukemia, liver, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic and bone cancers.[48] It
works by adhering to monoclonal antibodies, which in turn bind to cancer cells and kill them via
intense β-radiation from the yttrium-90 (see monoclonal antibody therapy).[77]
A technique called radioembolization is used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma and liver
metastasis. Radioembolization is a low toxicity, targeted liver cancer therapy that uses millions
of tiny beads made of glass or resin containing radioactive yttrium-90. The radioactive
microspheres are delivered directly to the blood vessels feeding specific liver tumors/segments or
lobes. It is minimally invasive and patients can usually be discharged after a few hours. This
procedure may not eliminate all tumors throughout the entire liver, but works on one segment or
one lobe at a time and may require multiple procedures.[78]
Also see radioembolization in the case of combined cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Needles made of yttrium-90, which can cut more precisely than scalpels, have been used to sever
pain-transmitting nerves in the spinal cord,[30] and yttrium-90 is also used to carry out
radionuclide synovectomy in the treatment of inflamed joints, especially knees, in sufferers of
conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.[79]
A neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminium-garnet laser has been used in an experimental, robot-
assisted radical prostatectomy in canines in an attempt to reduce collateral nerve and tissue
damage,[80] and erbium-doped lasers are coming into use for cosmetic skin resurfacing.[6]
SuperconductorsEdit
Main article: high-temperature superconductor
YBCO superconductor

Yttrium is a key ingredient in the yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa2Cu3O7, aka 'YBCO' or '1-2-
3') superconductor developed at the University of Alabama and the University of Houston in
1987.[44] This superconductor is notable because the operating superconductivity temperature is
above liquid nitrogen's boiling point (77.1 K).[44] Since liquid nitrogen is less expensive than
the liquid helium required for metallic superconductors, the operating costs for applications
would be less.
The actual superconducting material is often written as YBa2Cu3O7–d, where d must be less than
0.7 for superconductivity. The reason for this is still not clear, but it is known that the vacancies
occur only in certain places in the crystal, the copper oxide planes, and chains, giving rise to a
peculiar oxidation state of the copper atoms, which somehow leads to the superconducting
behavior.
The theory of low temperature superconductivity has been well understood since the BCS
theory of 1957. It is based on a peculiarity of the interaction between two electrons in a crystal
lattice. However, the BCS theory does not explain high temperature superconductivity, and its
precise mechanism is still a mystery. What is known is that the composition of the copper-oxide
materials must be precisely controlled for superconductivity to occur.[81]
This superconductor is a black and green, multi-crystal, multi-phase mineral. Researchers are
studying a class of materials known as perovskites that are alternative combinations of these
elements, hoping to develop a practical high-temperature superconductor.[56]
Lithium batteriesEdit
Yttrium is used in small quantities in cathodes of some Lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP),
and then called commonly LiFeYPO4 chemistry, or LYP. Similar to LFP, LYP batteries offer
high energy density, good safety and long life. But LYP, offer higher cathode stability, and
prolong life of battery, by protecting physical structure of the cathode, especially at higher
temperatures and higher charging / discharge current. LYP batteries do find use in stationary
applications (off-grid solar systems), electric vehicles (some cars), as well other applications
(submarines, ships), similar to LFP batteries, but often at improved safety and cycle life time.
LYP cells have essentially same nominal voltage as LFP, of 3.25V, and very similar charging
and discharge characteristic. [82] Major manufacturer of LFP batteries is Shenzhen Smart Lion
Power Battery Limited, with brands Winston and Thunder Sky.[83]
Other applicationsEdit
In 2009, Professor Mas Subramanian and associates at Oregon State University discovered that
yttrium can be combined with indium and manganese to form an intensely blue, non-toxic, inert,
fade-resistant pigment, YInMn blue, the first new blue pigment discovered in 200 years.
PrecautionsEdit
Yttrium currently has no known biological role, and it can be highly toxic to humans, animals
and plants.[7]
Water-soluble compounds of yttrium are considered mildly toxic, while its insoluble compounds
are non-toxic.[48] In experiments on animals, yttrium and its compounds caused lung and liver
damage, though toxicity varies with different yttrium compounds. In rats, inhalation of yttrium
citrate caused pulmonary edema and dyspnea, while inhalation of yttrium chloride caused liver
edema, pleural effusions, and pulmonary hyperemia.[7]
Exposure to yttrium compounds in humans may cause lung disease.[7] Workers exposed to
airborne yttrium europium vanadate dust experienced mild eye, skin, and upper respiratory tract
irritation—though this may be caused by the vanadium content rather than the yttrium.[7] Acute
exposure to yttrium compounds can cause shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain,
and cyanosis.[7] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits exposure to
yttrium in the workplace to 1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) is 1 mg/m3 over
an 8-hour workday. At levels of 500 mg/m3, yttrium is immediately dangerous to life and health.
[84] Yttrium dust is highly flammable.[7]
See alsoEdit
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Last edited 1 month ago by Citation bot
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