Cerium information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its High Purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
 Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earths. It is characterized chemically by having two valence states , the +3 cerous and +4 ceric states. Cerium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.999% (ACS grade to ultra high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. The ceric state is the only non-trivalent rare earth ion stable in aqueous solutions.It is, therefore, strongly acidic and moderately toxic. It is also a strong oxidizer.The cerous state closely resembles the other trivalent rare earths. The numerous commercial applications for cerium include metallurgy, glass and glass polishing, ceramics, catalysts, and in phosphors. In steel manufacturing it is used to remove free oxygen and sulfur by forming stable oxysulfides and by tying up undesirable trace elements, such as lead and antimony. It is considered to be the most efficient glass polishing agent for precision optical polishing. It is also used to decolor glass by keeping iron in its ferrous state. The ability of cerium-doped glass to block out ultra violet light is utilized in the manufacturing of medical glassware and aerospace windows. It is also used to prevent polymers from darkening in sunlight and to suppress discoloration of television glass. It is applied to optical components to improve performance. Cerium is also used in a variety of ceramics, including dental compositions and as a phase stabilizer in zirconia-based products. Ceria plays several catalytic roles. In catalytic converters it acts as a stabilizer for the high surface area alumina, as a promoter of the water-gas shift reaction, as an oxygen storage component and as an enhancer of the NOX reduction capability of Rhodium. Cerium is added to the dominant catalyst for the production of styrene from ethylbenezene to improve styrene formation. It is used in FCC catalysts containing zeolites to provide both catalytic reactivity in the reactor and thermal stability in the regenerator. Cerium metal was historically used in alloys to make permanent magnets, but this has become a less common use for the metal. Currently cerium metal is used in a number of alloys for a wide range of applications. Alloying cerium with iron improves machineability of automotive power-train components. Cerium can be added to magnesium alloys as a grain boundary modifier in magnesium and can be used to make aluminum alloys.
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film  applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Cerium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Cerium is a Block F, Group 3, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Cerium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 19, 9, 2 and its electronic configuration is [Xe]4f2 6s2. In its elemental form cerium's CAS number is 7440-45-1. The cerium atom has a radius of 182.5.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 181.pm. See Cerium research below.  All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Cerium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Cerium was first discovered by W. von Hisinger in 1903. The element was named after the asteroid Ceres.
Cerium Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of Cerium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
The following table shows the abundance of Cerium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
Cerium Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for Cerium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Cerium compounds have no biological role, but have been used in medicines treating dyspepsia, pyrosis, and vomiting. Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for Cerium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
Conductivity. As to Cerium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured in terms of electrical resistivity @ 20 şC is 75 µOcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.12. The thermal conductivity of Cerium is 11.4 W m-1 K-1. Thermal Properties of Cerium. The melting point and boiling point for Cerium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
Recent Research & Development for Cerium |
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Cerium| Formula | Atomic Number | Molecular Weight | Electronegativity (Pauling) | Density | Melting Point | Boiling Point | Vanderwaals radius | Ionic radius | Energy of first ionization |
| Ce | 58 | 140.12 g.mol -1 | 1.1 | 6.76 g.cm-3 at 20 °C | 799 °C | 3426 °C | 0.181 nm | 0.102 nm (+3) ; 0.087 nm (+4) | 526.8 kJ.mol-1 |
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