Thulium is a
chemical element
A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its ...
; it has
symbol
A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...
Tm and
atomic number
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of its atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei composed of protons and neutrons, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of pro ...
69. It is the thirteenth element in the
lanthanide
The lanthanide () or lanthanoid () series of chemical elements comprises at least the 14 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–70, from lanthanum through ytterbium. In the periodic table, they fill the 4f orbitals. Lutetium (el ...
series of
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
s. It is the second-least abundant lanthanide in the Earth's crust, after radioactively unstable
promethium
Promethium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pm and atomic number 61. All of its isotopes are Radioactive decay, radioactive; it is extremely rare, with only about 500–600 grams naturally occurring in the Earth's crust a ...
. It is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster. It is fairly soft and slowly
tarnish
Tarnish is a thin layer of corrosion that forms over copper, brass, aluminum, magnesium, neodymium and other similar metals as their outermost layer undergoes a chemical reaction. Tarnish does not always result from the sole effects of oxygen in ...
es in air. Despite its high price and rarity, thulium is used as a
dopant
A dopant (also called a doping agent) is a small amount of a substance added to a material to alter its physical properties, such as electrical or optics, optical properties. The amount of dopant is typically very low compared to the material b ...
in
solid-state laser
A solid-state laser is a laser that uses a active laser medium, gain medium that is a solid, rather than a liquid as in dye lasers or a gas as in gas lasers. Semiconductor-based lasers are also in the solid state, but are generally considered as ...
s, and as the radiation source in some portable
X-ray
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
devices. It has no significant biological role and is not particularly toxic.
In 1879, the Swedish chemist
Per Teodor Cleve
Per Teodor Cleve (10 February 1840 – 18 June 1905) was a Swedish chemist, biologist, mineralogist and oceanographer. He is best known for his discovery of the chemical elements holmium and thulium.
Born in Stockholm in 1840, Cleve earned ...
separated two previously unknown components, which he called
holmia and
thulia, from the
rare-earth mineral
erbia; these were the oxides of
holmium
Holmium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ho and atomic number 67. It is a rare-earth element and the eleventh member of the lanthanide series. It is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Like many other ...
and thulium, respectively. His example of thulium oxide contained impurities of ytterbium oxide. A relatively pure sample of thulium oxide was first obtained in 1911. The metal itself was first obtained in 1936 by
Wilhelm Klemm and Heinrich Bommer.
Like the other lanthanides, its most common
oxidation state
In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical Electrical charge, charge of an atom if all of its Chemical bond, bonds to other atoms are fully Ionic bond, ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons ...
is +3, seen in its oxide, halides and other compounds. In
aqueous solution
An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, also known as sodium chloride (NaCl), in water ...
, like compounds of other late lanthanides, soluble thulium compounds form
coordination complex
A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...
es with nine water molecules.
Properties
Physical properties
Pure thulium metal has a bright, silvery luster, which tarnishes on exposure to air. The metal can be cut with a knife,
as it has a
Mohs hardness
The Mohs scale ( ) of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fair ...
of 2 to 3; it is malleable and ductile.
Thulium is
ferromagnetic
Ferromagnetism is a property of certain materials (such as iron) that results in a significant, observable magnetic permeability, and in many cases, a significant magnetic coercivity, allowing the material to form a permanent magnet. Ferromagne ...
below 32K,
antiferromagnetic between 32 and 56K, and
paramagnetic
Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism whereby some materials are weakly attracted by an externally applied magnetic field, and form internal, induced magnetic fields in the direction of the applied magnetic field. In contrast with this behavior, ...
above 56K.
Thulium has two major
allotrope
Allotropy or allotropism () is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, in the same physical state, known as allotropes of the elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element: the ...
s: the
tetragonal
In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the Cube (geometry), cube becomes a rectangular Pri ...
α-Tm and the more stable
hexagonal
In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°.
Regular hexagon
A regular hexagon is d ...
β-Tm.
Chemical properties
Thulium tarnishes slowly in air and burns readily at 150
°C to form
thulium(III) oxide:
:
Thulium is quite
electropositive
Electronegativity, symbolized as , is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the d ...
and reacts slowly with cold water and quite quickly with hot water to form thulium hydroxide:
:
Thulium reacts with all the
halogen
The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and the radioactive elements astatine (At) and tennessine (Ts), though some authors would ...
s. Reactions are slow at room temperature, but are vigorous above 200°C:
: (white)
: (yellow)
: (white)
: (yellow)
Thulium dissolves readily in dilute
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...
to form
solutions containing the pale green Tm(III) ions, which exist as complexes:
:
Thulium reacts with various metallic and non-metallic elements forming a range of binary compounds, including , , , , , , , , , and . Like most lanthanides, the +3 state is most common and is the only state observed in thulium solutions.
Thulium exists as a ion in solution. In this state, the thulium ion is surrounded by nine molecules of water.
ions exhibit a bright blue luminescence.
Because it occurs late in the
series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used i ...
, the +2 oxidation state can also exist, stabilized by the nearly full 4f
electron shell
In chemistry and atomic physics, an electron shell may be thought of as an orbit that electrons follow around an atom's nucleus. The closest shell to the nucleus is called the "1 shell" (also called the "K shell"), followed by the "2 shell" (o ...
, but occurs only in solids.
Thulium's only known oxide is
. This oxide is sometimes called "thulia".
Reddish-purple thulium(II) compounds can be made by the
reduction of thulium(III) compounds. Examples of thulium(II) compounds include the halides (except the fluoride). Some hydrated thulium compounds, such as and are green or greenish-white.
Thulium dichloride reacts very vigorously with
water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
. This reaction results in
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
gas and
exhibiting a fading reddish color. Combination of thulium and
chalcogens
The chalcogens (ore forming) ( ) are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the radi ...
results in thulium
chalcogenide
: 220px, Cadmium sulfide, a prototypical metal chalcogenide, is used as a yellow pigment.
A chalcogenide is a chemical compound consisting of at least one chalcogen anion and at least one more electropositive element. Although all group 16 elemen ...
s.
Thulium reacts with
hydrogen chloride
The Chemical compound, compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hyd ...
to produce hydrogen gas and thulium chloride. With
nitric acid
Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...
it yields thulium nitrate, or .
Isotopes
The isotopes of thulium range from to .
The primary
decay mode
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
before the most abundant stable isotope, , is
electron capture
Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. Th ...
, and the primary mode after is
beta emission. The primary
decay product
In nuclear physics, a decay product (also known as a daughter product, daughter isotope, radio-daughter, or daughter nuclide) is the remaining nuclide left over from radioactive decay. Radioactive decay often proceeds via a sequence of steps ( d ...
s before are element 68 (
erbium
Erbium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements. It is a lanthanide, a rare- ...
) isotopes, and the primary products after are element 70 (
ytterbium) isotopes.
Thulium-169 is thulium's only
primordial isotope
In geochemistry, geophysics and nuclear physics, primordial nuclides, also known as primordial isotopes, are nuclides found on Earth that have existed in their current form since before Earth was formed. Primordial nuclides were present in the ...
and is the only isotope of thulium that is thought to be stable; it is predicted to undergo
alpha decay
Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The parent nucleus transforms or "decays" into a daughter product, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an a ...
to
holmium
Holmium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ho and atomic number 67. It is a rare-earth element and the eleventh member of the lanthanide series. It is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Like many other ...
-165 with a very long half-life.
The longest-lived radioisotopes are thulium-171, which has a
half-life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay.
Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to:
Film
* Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang
* ''Half Life: ...
of 1.92 years, and
thulium-170, which has a half-life of 128.6 days. Most other isotopes have half-lives of a few minutes or less.
In total, 40 isotopes and 26
nuclear isomer
A nuclear isomer is a metastable state of an atomic nucleus, in which one or more nucleons (protons or neutrons) occupy excited state levels (higher energy levels). "Metastable" describes nuclei whose excited states have Half-life, half-lives of ...
s of thulium have been detected.
Most isotopes of thulium lighter than 169
atomic mass unit
The dalton or unified atomic mass unit (symbols: Da or u, respectively) is a unit of mass defined as of the mass of an unbound neutral atom of carbon-12 in its nuclear and electronic ground state and at rest. It is a non-SI unit accepted ...
s decay via
electron capture
Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. Th ...
or
beta-plus decay, although some exhibit significant
alpha decay
Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The parent nucleus transforms or "decays" into a daughter product, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an a ...
or
proton emission
Proton emission (also known as proton radioactivity) is a rare type of radioactive decay in which a proton is ejected from a atomic nucleus, nucleus. Proton emission can occur from high-lying excited states in a nucleus following a beta decay ...
. Heavier isotopes undergo
beta-minus decay.
History

Thulium was
discovered by Swedish chemist
Per Teodor Cleve
Per Teodor Cleve (10 February 1840 – 18 June 1905) was a Swedish chemist, biologist, mineralogist and oceanographer. He is best known for his discovery of the chemical elements holmium and thulium.
Born in Stockholm in 1840, Cleve earned ...
in 1879 by looking for impurities in the
oxide
An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation st ...
s of other rare earth elements. This was the same method
Carl Gustaf Mosander earlier used to discover some other rare earth elements. Cleve started by removing all of the known contaminants of
erbia (). Upon additional processing, he obtained two new substances; one brown and one green. The brown substance was the oxide of the element
holmium
Holmium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ho and atomic number 67. It is a rare-earth element and the eleventh member of the lanthanide series. It is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Like many other ...
and was named holmia by Cleve, and the green substance was the oxide of an unknown element. Cleve named the oxide
thulia and its element thulium after
Thule, an
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
place name associated with Scandinavia or
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. Thulium's atomic symbol was initially Tu, but later changed to Tm.
Thulium was so rare that none of the early workers had enough of it to purify sufficiently to actually see the green color; they had to be content with
spectroscopically observing the strengthening of the two characteristic absorption bands, as erbium was progressively removed. The first researcher to obtain nearly pure thulium was
Charles James, a British expatriate working on a large scale at
New Hampshire College in
Durham, USA. In 1911 he reported his results, having used his discovered method of bromate fractional crystallization to do the purification. He famously needed 15,000 purification operations to establish that the material was homogeneous.
High-purity thulium oxide was first offered commercially in the late 1950s, as a result of the adoption of
ion-exchange separation technology. Lindsay Chemical Division of American Potash & Chemical Corporation offered it in grades of 99% and 99.9% purity. The price per kilogram oscillated between US$4,600 and $13,300 in the period from 1959 to 1998 for 99.9% purity, and it was the second highest for the lanthanides behind
lutetium
Lutetium is a chemical element; it has symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted am ...
.
Occurrence

The element is never found in nature in pure form, but it is found in small quantities in
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...
s with other rare earths. Thulium is often found with minerals containing
yttrium
Yttrium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), 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". Yttrium is almost a ...
and
gadolinium
Gadolinium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Gd and atomic number 64. It is a silvery-white metal when oxidation is removed. Gadolinium is a malleable and ductile rare-earth element. It reacts with atmospheric oxygen or moi ...
. In particular, thulium occurs in the mineral
gadolinite
Gadolinite, sometimes known as ytterbite, is a silicate mineral consisting principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with the formula . It is called gadolinite-(Ce) or gadolinite-(Y), depending o ...
.
Like many other
lanthanides
The lanthanide () or lanthanoid () series of chemical elements comprises at least the 14 Metal, metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–70, from lanthanum through ytterbium. In the periodic table, they fill the 4f orbitals. Lutetium ...
, thulium also occurs in the minerals
monazite,
xenotime, and
euxenite. Thulium has not been found in prevalence over the other rare earths in any mineral yet. Its
abundance in the Earth's crust is 0.5 mg/kg by weight.
[ABUNDANCE OF ELEMENTS IN THE EARTH’S CRUST AND IN THE SEA, ''CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,'' 97th edition (2016–2017), p. 14-17]
Thulium makes up approximately 0.5 parts per million of
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
, although this value can range from 0.4 to 0.8 parts per million. Thulium makes up 250 parts per quadrillion of
seawater
Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...
.
In the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
, thulium exists in concentrations of 200 parts per trillion by weight and 1 part per trillion by moles.
Thulium ore occurs most commonly in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
also have large reserves of thulium. In 2001, the total world reserves of thulium were approximately 100,000
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s. Thulium is the least abundant
lanthanide
The lanthanide () or lanthanoid () series of chemical elements comprises at least the 14 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57–70, from lanthanum through ytterbium. In the periodic table, they fill the 4f orbitals. Lutetium (el ...
on Earth except for the radioactive
promethium
Promethium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pm and atomic number 61. All of its isotopes are Radioactive decay, radioactive; it is extremely rare, with only about 500–600 grams naturally occurring in the Earth's crust a ...
.
Production
Thulium is principally extracted from
monazite ores (~0.007% thulium) found in river sands, through
ion exchange
Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one species of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid. Ion exchange is used in softening or demineralizing of water, purification of ch ...
. Newer ion-exchange and solvent-extraction techniques have led to easier separation of the rare earths, which has yielded much lower costs for thulium production. The principal sources today are the ion
adsorption
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a film of the ''adsorbate'' on the surface of the ''adsorbent''. This process differs from absorption, in which a ...
clays of southern China. In these, where about two-thirds of the total rare-earth content is yttrium, thulium is about 0.5% (or about tied with
lutetium
Lutetium is a chemical element; it has symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted am ...
for rarity).
The metal can be isolated through
reduction of its oxide with
lanthanum
Lanthanum is a chemical element; it has symbol La and atomic number 57. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series, a group of 15 similar elements bet ...
metal or by
calcium
Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...
reduction in a closed container. None of thulium's natural
compounds are commercially important. In 2001, approximately 50 tonnes per year of thulium oxide were produced.
In 1996, thulium oxide cost US$20 per gram, and in 2005, 99%-pure thulium metal powder cost US$70 per gram.
Applications
Lasers
Holmium
Holmium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ho and atomic number 67. It is a rare-earth element and the eleventh member of the lanthanide series. It is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Like many other ...
-
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium ...
-thulium triple-doped
yttrium aluminium garnet
Yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG, Yttrium, Y3Aluminium, Al5Oxygen, O12) is a synthetic crystalline material of the garnet group. It is a Crystal system, cubic yttrium aluminium oxide phase, with other examples being YAlO3 (YAP) in a Crystal system, ...
(, or ) is an active laser medium material with high efficiency. It lases at 2080 nm in the infrared and is widely used in military applications, medicine, and meteorology. Single-element thulium-doped YAG (Tm:YAG) lasers operate at 2010 nm. The wavelength of thulium-based lasers is very efficient for superficial ablation of tissue, with minimal coagulation depth in air or in water. This makes thulium lasers attractive for laser-based surgery.
X-ray source
Despite its high cost, portable X-ray devices use thulium that has been bombarded with neutrons in a
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...
to produce the isotope thulium-170, having a half-life of 128.6 days and five major emission lines of comparable intensity (at 7.4, 51.354, 52.389, 59.4 and 84.253 keV). These
radioactive source
A radioactive source is a known quantity of a radionuclide which emits ionizing radiation, typically one or more of the radiation types gamma rays, alpha particles, beta particles, and neutron radiation.
Sources can be used for irradiation, where ...
s have a useful life of about one year, as tools in medical and dental diagnosis, as well as to detect defects in inaccessible mechanical and electronic components. Such sources do not need extensive radiation protectiononly a small cup of lead.
They are among the most popular radiation sources for use in
industrial radiography
Industrial radiography is a modality of non-destructive testing that uses ionizing radiation to inspect materials and components with the objective of locating and quantifying defects and degradation in material properties that would lead to the ...
.
Thulium-170 is gaining popularity as an X-ray source for cancer treatment via
brachytherapy
Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation, radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. The word "brachytherapy" comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek word , meaning "short-distance" or "s ...
(sealed source radiation therapy).
Others
Thulium has been used in
high-temperature superconductor
High-temperature superconductivity (high-c or HTS) is superconductivity in materials with a critical temperature (the temperature below which the material behaves as a superconductor) above , the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. They are "high- ...
s similarly to
yttrium
Yttrium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), 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". Yttrium is almost a ...
. Thulium potentially has use in
ferrites, ceramic magnetic materials that are used in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...
equipment.
Thulium is also similar to
scandium
Scandium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Sc and atomic number 21. It is a silvery-white metallic d-block, d-block element. Historically, it has been classified as a rare-earth element, together with yttrium and the lantha ...
in that it is used in arc lighting for its unusual spectrum, in this case, its green emission lines, which are not covered by other elements. Because thulium
fluoresce
Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with color ...
s with a blue color when exposed to
ultraviolet light
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of th ...
, thulium is put into
euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
banknotes
A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commer ...
as a measure against
counterfeit
A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...
ing.
The blue fluorescence of Tm-doped calcium sulfate has been used in personal dosimeters for visual monitoring of radiation.
Tm-doped halides in which Tm is in its 2+ oxidation state are luminescent materials that are proposed for electric power generating windows based on the principle of a
luminescent solar concentrator.
Biological role and precautions
Soluble thulium salts are mildly
toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
, but insoluble thulium salts are completely
nontoxic.
When injected, thulium can cause degeneration of the
liver
The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
and
spleen
The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter.
The spleen plays important roles in reg ...
and can also cause
hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...
concentration to fluctuate. Liver damage from thulium is more prevalent in male
mice
A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
than female mice. Despite this, thulium has a low level of toxicity.
In humans, thulium occurs in the highest amounts in the
liver
The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
,
kidney
In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...
s, and
bone
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
s. Humans typically consume several micrograms of thulium per year. The roots of
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
s do not take up thulium, and the
dry matter
The dry matter or dry weight is a measure of the mass of a completely dried substance.
Analysis of food
The dry matter of plant and animal material consists of all its constituents excluding water. The dry matter of food includes carbohydrate ...
of vegetables usually contains one
part per billion of thulium.
Thulium metal has low to moderate toxicity. Thulium
dust
Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...
can cause explosions and fires.
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Thulium,
Chemical elements
Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure
Lanthanides
Metals
Reducing agents