Who discovered terbium and when was it discovered?
Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander discovered terbium in 1843. He identified it as an impurity in yttrium oxide, a substance then known as yttria.
Questions about Terbium
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why is terbium named after Ytterby?
Terbium takes its name from Ytterby, a village in Sweden. Mosander named his separated fractions of yttrium oxide after that ore's place of origin, and the name terbia, shortened from Ytterby, became the element's permanent designation.
What is terbium used for in everyday lighting?
Terbium green phosphors are combined with divalent europium blue phosphors and trivalent europium red phosphors to create trichromatic lighting, the high-efficiency white light used in fluorescent lamps, color television tubes, and flat-screen monitors. Trichromatic lighting is the largest single consumer of the world's terbium supply.
What is Terfenol-D and why does it contain terbium?
Terfenol-D is an alloy that contains terbium and holds the highest magnetostriction of any known alloy, meaning it expands or contracts in a magnetic field more than any other alloy. This property makes it useful in naval sonar systems, actuators, sensors, and other magnetomechanical devices.
Where is most of the world's terbium mined?
The richest commercial sources of terbium are the ion-adsorption clays of southern China. In 2018, a large deposit was also identified in seafloor sediments off Japan's Minamitori Island, with reserves described as sufficient to meet global demand for 420 years.
Is terbium considered hazardous to human health?
Terbium is not classified as a hazardous substance under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, and neither the Occupational Safety and Health Administration nor the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has established exposure limits for it. Reviews of rare earth element toxicity class terbium and its compounds as of low to moderate toxicity, though detailed studies remain limited.