Rare Earth Elements | Lutetium (Lu)

In 1907, Welsbach and G. Urban conducted their own research and discovered a new element from “ytterbium” using different separation methods. Welsbach named this element Cp (Cassiope ium), while G. Urban named it Lu (Lutetium) based on Paris’ old name lutece. Later, it was discovered that Cp and Lu were the same element, and they were collectively referred to as lutetium.

 The main uses of lutetium are as follows.

 (1) Manufacturing certain special alloys. For example, lutetium aluminum alloy can be used for neutron activation analysis.

 (2) Stable lutetium nuclides play catalytic roles in petroleum cracking, alkylation, hydrogenation, and polymerization reactions.

 (3) The addition of elements such as yttrium iron or yttrium aluminum garnet improves certain properties.

 (4) Raw materials for magnetic bubble storage.

 (5) A composite functional crystal, lutetium doped tetraboric acid aluminum yttrium neodymium, belongs to the technical field of salt solution cooling crystal growth. Experiments show that lutetium doped NYAB crystal is superior to NYAB crystal in optical uniformity and laser performance.

 (6) After research by relevant foreign departments, it has been found that lutetium has potential applications in electrochromic displays and low dimensional molecular semiconductors. In addition, lutetium is also used as an activator for energy battery technology and fluorescent powder.