terbium

terbium (Tb), chemical element, a rare-earth metal of the lanthanide series of the periodic table.

Terbium is a moderately hard, silvery white metal that is stable in air when in pure form. The metal is relatively stable in air even at high temperatures, because of formation of a tight, dark oxide layer that can be represented as a mixed oxide composed of Tb₂O₃ and TbO₂. Terbium readily reacts with diluted acids, but it is insoluble in hydrofluoric acid (HF) because the presence of the fluoride ion protects the metal from further reaction by forming a protective layer of TbF₃. The metal is a very strong paramagnet above 230 K (−43 °C, or −46 °F); it is antiferromagnetic between 220 K (−53 °C, or −64 °F) and 230 K, and it becomes ferromagnetic below 220 K.

The element was discovered in 1843 by Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in a heavy rare-earth fraction called yttria, but its existence was not confirmed for at least 30 years, and pure compounds were not prepared until 1905. Terbium occurs in many rare-earth minerals but is almost exclusively obtained from bastnasite and from laterite ion-exchange clays. It is also found in the products of nuclear fission. Terbium is one of the least abundant of the rare earths; its abundance in Earth’s crust is about the same as thallium.

The only isotope occurring in ores is terbium-159. A total of 36 (excluding nuclear isomers) radioactive isotopes of terbium have been identified. Their mass ranges from 135 to 171 with half-life ranging from more than 200 nanoseconds (terbium-138) to 180 years (terbium-158).

Solvent-solvent extraction and ion-exchange techniques are utilized for commercial production of terbium. The metal is prepared in a highly pure form by metallothermic reduction of the anhydrous fluoride with calcium metal. Terbium exists in three allotropic (structural) forms. The α-phase is close-packed hexagonal with a = 3.6055 Å and c = 5.6966 Å at room temperature. The ferromagnetic ordering below 220 K is accompanied by an orthorhombic distortion of the hexagonal lattice to the β-phase with a = 3.605 Å, b = 6.244 Å, and c = 5.706 Å at 77 K (−196 °C, or −321 °F). The γ-phase is body-centred cubic with a = 4.07 Å at 1,289 °C (2,352 °F).

Terbium compounds are used as green phosphors in fluorescent lamps, computer monitors, and TV screens that use cathode-ray tubes. Another major use is with dysprosium and iron in the magnetostrictive alloy Terfenol-D (Tb_0.3Dy_0.7Fe₂), which is a component of magnetically controlled actuators, sonar systems, and pressure sensors. Together with another lanthanide—gadolinium—terbium was used by Geoffrey Green and coworkers in 1990 to build a dual-stage room-temperature magnetic refrigerator prototype, with gadolinium as a high-temperature stage and terbium as a low-temperature stage.

Terbium is one of a few rare earths that have a +4 as well as a +3 oxidation state; the former is a result of stability of the half-filled 4f shell. The brown oxide prepared by air ignition has the approximate formula Tb₄O₇; the oxide TbO₂ is obtained by using atomic oxygen. The tetrafluoride TbF₄ is prepared by fluorinating the trifluoride; the Tb⁴⁺ ion is not known in solution. In other salts and in solution, terbium is present in the +3 oxidation state and behaves as a typical rare earth. Its solutions are pale pink to colourless.