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Europium

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geochemistry

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

FormalPara Element Data

Atomic symbol: Eu

Atomic number: 63

Atomic weight: 151.965 g/mol

Isotopes and abundances: 151Eu 47.8 %, 153Eu 52.2 %

1 atm melting point: 822 °C

1 atm boiling point: 1529 °C

Common valences: 3+, 2+

Ionic radii: Eu 3+ 109 pm (sixfold), 121 pm (eightfold); Eu 2+ 131 pm (sixfold), 139 pm (eightfold)

Pauling electronegativity: 1.2

First ionization potential: 5.6704 eV

Chondritic (CI) abundance: 0.056 μg/g

Silicate Earth abundance: 0.166 μg/g

Crustal abundance: 1.1 μg/g

Seawater abundance: < ~0.3 pg/g

Core abundance: ~0

Properties

Europium is a silvery-white rare-earth element with a pale yellow tint (Greenwood and Earshaw, 1997). It is a ductile metal and has the second lowest melting point and the lowest density of all rare-earth elements (Haynes, 2016). Europium metal is commercially produced by isolation from rare-earth element-bearing minerals such as bastnäsite and more rarely monazite. Currently, the Bayan Obo iron ore deposit (China) is one of the most...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK

    Matthias Willbold

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  1. Matthias Willbold
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Correspondence to Matthias Willbold .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

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Willbold, M. (2016). Europium. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_99-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_99-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

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