Ytterbium(III) oxide is the chemical compound with the formula Yb2O3. It is one of the more commonly encountered compounds of ytterbium. It occurs naturally in trace amounts in the mineral gadolinite. It was first isolated from this in 1878 by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac.[3]
Preparation
Ytterbium(III) oxide can be obtained by directly reacting ytterbium with oxygen:[4]
4 Yb + 3 O2 → 2 Yb2O3
It can also be obtained by the thermal decomposition of ytterbium carbonate or ytterbium oxalate at temperatures around 700 °C:[5]
Like the other trivalent oxides of the heavier lanthanides, ytterbium(III) oxide has the "rare-earth C-type sesquioxide" structure which is related to the fluorite structure with one quarter of the anions removed, leading to ytterbium atoms in two different six coordinate (non-octahedral) environments.[8]
^ abcR. Robie, B. Hemingway, and J. Fisher, “Thermodynamic Properties of Minerals and Related Substances at 298.15K and 1bar Pressure and at Higher Temperatures,” US Geol. Surv., vol. 1452, 1978.[1]
^Krebs, Robert E.; Déjur, Rae (2006). The history and use of our earth's chemical elements: a reference guide (2nd ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN978-0-313-33438-2.
^Wiberg, Egon; Wiberg, Nils (2007). Holleman, Arnold F.; Fischer, Gerd (eds.). Lehrbuch der anorganischen Chemie (102., stark umgearbeitete und verbesserte Auflage ed.). Berlin New York: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11-017770-1.
^Meyer, Gerd, ed. (1991). Synthesis of lanthanide and actinide compounds. Topics in f element chemistry. Dordrecht: Kluwer. ISBN978-0-7923-1018-1.