Ytterbium - Properties - Price - Applications

About Ytterbium

Because of its closed-shell electron configuration, its density and melting and boiling points differ significantly from those of most other lanthanides.

Summary

Element	Ytterbium
Atomic number	70
Element category	Rare Earth Metal
Phase at STP	Solid
Density	6.57 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	69 MPa
Yield Strength	66 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	23.9 GPa
Mohs Scale	N/A
Brinell Hardness	340 MPa
Vickers Hardness	210 MPa
Melting Point	819 °C
Boiling Point	1196 °C
Thermal Conductivity	39 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	26.3 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.15 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	7.66 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	128.9 kJ/mol
Electrical resistivity [nanoOhm meter]	250
Magnetic Susceptibility	+249e-6 cm^3/mol

Applications of Ytterbium

Ytterbium is beginning to find a variety of uses, such as in memory devices and tuneable lasers. It can also be used as an industrial catalyst and is increasingly being used to replace other catalysts considered to be too toxic and polluting. A small amount of ytterbium is used to add strength to specific steel types. Ytterbium can also be used as a dopant to help improve the grain refinement, strength, and other mechanical properties of stainless steel.

Production and Price of Ytterbium

Raw materials prices change daily. They are primarily driven by supply, demand and energy prices. In 2019, prices of pure Ytterbium were at around 5300 $/kg.

Ytterbium is produced from its ores by reaction with lanthanum metal. For example, the element is extracted by solvent extraction and ion exchange from monazite. Monazite is an important ore for thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It is often found in placer deposits. India, Madagascar, and South Africa have large deposits of monazite sands. The deposits in India are particularly rich in monazite.

Source: www.luciteria.com

Mechanical Properties of Ytterbium

Strength of Ytterbium

In mechanics of materials, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied load without failure or plastic deformation. Strength of materials basically considers the relationship between the external loads applied to a material and the resulting deformation or change in material dimensions. In designing structures and machines, it is important to consider these factors, in order that the material selected will have adequate strength to resist applied loads or forces and retain its original shape. Strength of a material is its ability to withstand this applied load without failure or plastic deformation.

For tensile stress, the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to elongate is known as ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Yield strength or yield stress is the material property defined as the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically whereas yield point is the point where nonlinear (elastic + plastic) deformation begins.

Ultimate Tensile Strength of Ytterbium

Ultimate tensile strength of Ytterbium is 69 MPa.

Yield Strength of Ytterbium

Yield strength of Ytterbium is 66 MPa.

Modulus of Elasticity of Ytterbium

The Young’s modulus of elasticity of Ytterbium is 66 MPa.

Hardness of Ytterbium

In materials science, hardness is the ability to withstand surface indentation (localized plastic deformation) and scratching. Brinell hardness test is one of indentation hardness tests, that has been developed for hardness testing. In Brinell tests, a hard, spherical indenter is forced under a specific load into the surface of the metal to be tested.

Brinell hardness of Ytterbium is approximately 340 MPa.

The Vickers hardness test method was developed by Robert L. Smith and George E. Sandland at Vickers Ltd as an alternative to the Brinell method to measure the hardness of materials. The Vickers hardness test method can be also used as a microhardness test method, which is mostly used for small parts, thin sections, or case depth work.

Vickers hardness of Ytterbium is approximately 210 MPa.

Scratch hardness is the measure of how resistant a sample is to permanent plastic deformation due to friction from a sharp object. The most common scale for this qualitative test is Mohs scale, which is used in mineralogy. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is based on the ability of one natural sample of mineral to scratch another mineral visibly.

Ytterbium is has a hardness of approximately N/A.

Ytterbium – Crystal Structure

A possible crystal structure of Ytterbium is face-centered cubic structure.

In metals, and in many other solids, the atoms are arranged in regular arrays called crystals. A crystal lattice is a repeating pattern of mathematical points that extends throughout space. The forces of chemical bonding causes this repetition. It is this repeated pattern which control properties like strength, ductility, density, conductivity (property of conducting or transmitting heat, electricity, etc.), and shape. There are 14 general types of such patterns known as Bravais lattices.

Crystal Structure of Ytterbium

Strength of Elements

Elasticity of Elements

Hardness of Elements

Thermal Properties of Ytterbium

Ytterbium – Melting Point and Boiling Point

Melting point of Ytterbium is 819°C.

Boiling point of Ytterbium is 1196°C.

Note that, these points are associated with the standard atmospheric pressure.

Ytterbium – Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity of Ytterbium is 39 W/(m·K).

The heat transfer characteristics of a solid material are measured by a property called the thermal conductivity, k (or λ), measured in W/m.K. It is a measure of a substance’s ability to transfer heat through a material by conduction. Note that Fourier’s law applies for all matter, regardless of its state (solid, liquid, or gas), therefore, it is also defined for liquids and gases.

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Ytterbium

Linear thermal expansion coefficient of Ytterbium is 26.3 µm/(m·K)

Thermal expansion is generally the tendency of matter to change its dimensions in response to a change in temperature. It is usually expressed as a fractional change in length or volume per unit temperature change.

Ytterbium – Specific Heat, Latent Heat of Fusion, Latent Heat of Vaporization

Specific heat of Ytterbium is 0.15 J/g K.

Heat capacity is an extensive property of matter, meaning it is proportional to the size of the system. Heat capacity C has the unit of energy per degree or energy per kelvin. When expressing the same phenomenon as an intensive property, the heat capacity is divided by the amount of substance, mass, or volume, thus the quantity is independent of the size or extent of the sample.

Latent Heat of Fusion of Ytterbium is 7.66 kJ/mol.

Latent Heat of Vaporization of Ytterbium is 128.9 kJ/mol.

Latent heat is the amount of heat added to or removed from a substance to produce a change in phase. This energy breaks down the intermolecular attractive forces, and also must provide the energy necessary to expand the gas (the pΔV work). When latent heat is added, no temperature change occurs. The enthalpy of vaporization is a function of the pressure at which that transformation takes place.

Melting Point of Elements

Thermal Conductivity of Elements

Thermal Expansion of Elements

Heat Capacity of Elements

Heat of Fusion of Elements

Heat of Vaporization of Elements

Ytterbium – Electrical Resistivity – Magnetic Susceptibility

Electrical property refers to the response of a material to an applied electric field. One of the principal characteristics of materials is their ability (or lack of ability) to conduct electrical current. Indeed, materials are classified by this property, that is, they are divided into conductors, semiconductors, and nonconductors.

Electrical Resistivity of Ytterbium

Electrical resistivity of Ytterbium is 250 nΩ⋅m.

Electrical conductivity and its converse, electrical resistivity, is a fundamental property of a material that quantifies how Ytterbium conducts the flow of electric current. Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity.

Magnetic Susceptibility of Ytterbium

Magnetic susceptibility of Ytterbium is +249e-6 cm^3/mol.

In electromagnetism, magnetic susceptibility is the measure of the magnetization of a substance. Magnetic susceptibility is a dimensionless proportionality factor that indicates the degree of magnetization of Ytterbium in response to an applied magnetic field.