Praseodymium 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.
 Praseodymium resembles the typical trivalent rare earths, however, it will exhibit a +4 state when stabilized in a zirconia host. Praseodymium 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 element is found in most all light rare earth derivatives. It is highly valued in glass and ceramic production as a bright yellow pigment because of its optimum reflectance at 560 nm. Much research is being done on its optical properties for use in amplification of telecommunication systems, including as a doping agent in fluoride fibers. Praseodymium doped zirconia is a potential cathode for low temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell applications. It is also used in the scintillator for medical CAT scans.
Praseodymium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are
available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nanoparticles and nanopowders provide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits. Praseodymium is somewhat toxic.
Oxides are availablein forms including powders and dense pellets for such  usesas optical coating and thin film applications.
The origin of the element name comes from the Greek words 'prasios didymos' meaning green twin.
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 platinum 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.
Praséodyme |
Praseodym |
Praseodymium |
Praseodym |
Praseodym |
Praseodym |
Praseodymium Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of Praseodymium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Pr-141 |
140.907648 |
100 |
The following table shows the abundance of Praseodymium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
| |
Typical Human Body |
Universe |
| by Weight |
no data |
2 ppb |
| by Atom |
no data |
0.02 ppb |
Praseodymium Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for Praseodymium 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. Praseodymium compounds have no biological role.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for Praseodymium (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:
| 1st Ionization Energy |
527.20 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
1017.93 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
2086.41 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to Praseodymium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured in terms of electrical resistivity @ 20 ŗC is 68 µOcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.13. The thermal conductivity of Praseodymium is 12.5 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties of Praseodymium. The melting point and boiling point for Praseodymium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
11.3 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
357 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
356.69 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for Praseodymium
Superbroadband near-IR emission from praseodymium-doped bismuth gallate glasses.
Zhou B, Pun EY.
Opt Lett. 2011 Aug 1;36(15):2958-60. doi: 10.1364/OL.36.002958.
PMID:
21808371
[PubMed - in process]
Pr(16)Mo(21)O(56).
Gougeon P, Gall P.
Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online. 2011 May 1;67(Pt 5):i34-i35. Epub 2011 Apr 29.
PMID:
21754260
[PubMed]
Internal radiotherapy techniques using radiolanthanide praseodymium-142: a review of production routes, brachytherapy, unsealed source therapy.
Bakht MK, Sadeghi M.
Ann Nucl Med. 2011 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21720780
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Fluorescence and DNA-binding properties of neodymium(III) and praseodymium(III) complexes containing 1,10-phenanthroline.
Khorasani-Motlagh M, Noroozifar M, Mirkazehi-Rigi S.
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2011 Sep;79(5):978-84. Epub 2011 May 7.
PMID:
21669548
[PubMed - in process]
Praseodymium(III) sulfate hydroxide, Pr(SO(4))(OH).
Wang XJ, Cheng JW.
Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online. 2011 Jan 15;67(Pt 2):i12.
PMID:
21522810
[PubMed]
Electrical conductivity and defect equilibria of Pr0.1Ce0.9O(2-d).
Bishop SR, Stefanik TS, Tuller HL.
Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2011 Jun 7;13(21):10165-73. Epub 2011 Apr 26.
PMID:
21519609
[PubMed - in process]
Enhanced emission of 2.7 µm pumped by laser diode from Er3+/Pr(3+)-codoped germanate glasses.
Xu R, Tian Y, Hu L, Zhang J.
Opt Lett. 2011 Apr 1;36(7):1173-5. doi: 10.1364/OL.36.001173.
PMID:
21479020
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Effect of graded levels of rare earth elements in diets of fattening bulls on growing and slaughtering performance, and on nutrient digestibility of wethers.
Schwabe A, Meyer U, Flachowsky G, Dänicke S.
Arch Anim Nutr. 2011 Feb;65(1):55-73.
PMID:
21452614
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Influence of rare-earth ions on SiO2-Na2O-RE2O3 glass structure.
Johnson JA, Benmore CJ, Holland D, Du J, Beuneu B, Mekki A.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2011 Feb 16;23(6):065404. Epub 2011 Jan 27.
PMID:
21406929
[PubMed]
Poly[[tetra-µ3-acetato-hexa-µ2-acetato-diaqua-µ2-oxalato-tetrapraseodymium(III)] dihydrate].
Gutkowski K, Freire E, Baggio R.
Acta Crystallogr C. 2011 Mar;67(Pt 3):m77-80. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
PMID:
21368405
[PubMed]
Metallic and insulating oxide interfaces controlled by electronic correlations.
Jang HW, Felker DA, Bark CW, Wang Y, Niranjan MK, Nelson CT, Zhang Y, Su D, Folkman CM, Baek SH, Lee S, Janicka K, Zhu Y, Pan XQ, Fong DD, Tsymbal EY, Rzchowski MS, Eom CB.
Science. 2011 Feb 18;331(6019):886-9.
PMID:
21330538
[PubMed]
Decrease of liposomal size and retarding effect on fluconazole skin permeation by lysine derivatives.
Schwarz JC, Kählig H, Matsko NB, Kratzel M, Husa M, Valenta C.
J Pharm Sci. 2011 Jul;100(7):2911-9. doi: 10.1002/jps.22513. Epub 2011 Feb 11.
PMID:
21319163
[PubMed - in process]
Interferometric measurement of laser heating in praseodymium-doped YAG crystal.
Farley CW 3rd, Reddy BR.
Appl Opt. 2011 Feb 1;50(4):526-31. doi: 10.1364/AO.50.000526.
PMID:
21283244
[PubMed]
Observation of 2.7 µm emission from diode-pumped Er3+/Pr3+-codoped fluorophosphate glass.
Tian Y, Xu R, Zhang L, Hu L, Zhang J.
Opt Lett. 2011 Jan 15;36(2):109-11. doi: 10.1364/OL.36.000109.
PMID:
21263469
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Spectroscopic studies on the interaction between Pr(III) complex of an ofloxacin derivative and bovine serum albumin or DNA.
Xu M, Ma ZR, Huang L, Chen FJ, Zeng ZZ.
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2011 Jan;78(1):503-11. Epub 2010 Nov 23.
PMID:
21156349
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Study on fluorescence and DNA-binding of praseodymium(III) complex containing 2,2'-bipyridine.
Khorasani-Motlagh M, Noroozifar M, Khmmarnia S.
Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2011 Jan;78(1):389-95. Epub 2010 Oct 30.
PMID:
21130681
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
The correlation between f-f absorption and sensitized visible light emission of luminescent Pr(III) complexes: role of solvents and ancillary ligands on sensitivity.
Irfanullah M, Iftikhar K.
J Fluoresc. 2011 Mar;21(2):673-86. Epub 2010 Nov 3.
PMID:
21046438
[PubMed - in process]
Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant activities, and DNA-binding studies of (E)-N'-[1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazide and its Pr(III) and Nd(III) complexes.
Hao ZY, Liu QW, Xu J, Jia L, Li SB.
Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2010 Oct;58(10):1306-12.
PMID:
20930395
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Autogenic synthesis of green- and red-emitting single-phase Pr(2)O(2)CO(3) and PrO(1.833) luminescent nanopowders.
Calderon Moreno JM, Pol VG, Suh SH, Popa M.
Inorg Chem. 2010 Nov 1;49(21):10067-73.
PMID:
20923161
[PubMed]
Morphological and electrochemical properties of crystalline praseodymium oxide nanorods.
Shamshi Hassan M, Shaheer Akhtar M, Shim KB, Yang OB.
Nanoscale Res Lett. 2010 Feb 5;5(4):735-40.
PMID:
20672103
[PubMed] |
