Thulium(III) bromide is a crystalline compound of one
thulium
Thulium is a chemical element; it has symbol Tm and atomic number 69. It is the thirteenth element in the lanthanide series of metals. It is the second-least abundant lanthanide in the Earth's crust, after radioactively unstable promethium. It i ...
atom and three
bromine
Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...
atoms.
The salt is a white powder at room temperature.
It is
hygroscopic
Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption (chemistry), absorption or adsorption from the surrounding Natural environment, environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water mol ...
.
Usage
Thulium(III) bromide is used as a reagent for the complexation of
lanthanide bromides with
aluminium bromide
Aluminium bromide is any chemical compound with the empirical formula AlBrx. Aluminium tribromide is the most common form of aluminium bromide. It is a colorless, sublimable hygroscopic solid; hence old samples tend to be hydrated, mostly as al ...
, and as a reactant for preparing alkali metal thulium bromides.
It is also used to create discharge lamps that are free of mercury.
References
{{Lanthanide halides
Bromides
Thulium compounds
Lanthanide halides