Thulium 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.
 Thulium is representative of the other lanthanides (rare earths) similar in chemistry to Yttrium. Thulium 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. Tm emits blue upon excitation. Flat panel screens depend critically on bright blue emitters. Also, under X-ray bombardment emissions are in both the 375 nm (ultra violet) and 465 (visible blue) wave lengths. This gives the material useful applications in low radiation detection for detection badges and similar uses. It is also used in other luminescence applications, such as halide discharge lamps. Flat panel screens depend critically on bright blue emitters.
Thulium 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.
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. Thulium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Thulium is a Block F, Group 3, Period 6 element. The number of electrons in each of Thulium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 31, 8, 2 and its electronic configuration is [Xe]4f136s2. In its elemental form thulium's CAS number is 7440-30-4. The thulium atom has a radius of 172.4.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is unknown.
Thulium is not toxic.
 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 Thulium 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.
Thulium was first discovered by Theodore Cleve in 1879. Thulium is named after "Thule", which is the ancient name of Scandinavia. See Thulium research below.
 thulium |
 Thulium |
 tulio |
 Túlio |
 tulio |
 Tulium |
Thulium Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of Thulium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Tm-169 |
168.934 |
100 |
The following table shows the abundance of Thulium 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 |
0.1 ppb |
| by Atom |
no data |
0.001 ppb |
Thulium Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for Thulium 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. Thulium compounds have no biological role.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for Thulium (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 |
59.70 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
1162.66 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
2284.79 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to Thulium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured in terms of electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 79 µOcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.25. The thermal conductivity of Thulium is 16.8 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties of Thulium. The melting point and boiling point for Thulium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
18.4 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
247 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
233.43 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for Thulium
Comparison of holmium:YAG and thulium fiber laser lithotripsy: ablation thresholds, ablation rates, and retropulsion effects.
Blackmon RL, Irby PB, Fried NM.
J Biomed Opt. 2011 Jul;16(7):071403.
PMID:
21806249
[PubMed - in process]
Poly[[triaqua-(µ(3)-4-oxidopyridine-2,6-dicarboxyl-ato)thulium(III)] monohydrate].
Gao ZQ, Lv DY, Gu JZ, Li HJ.
Acta Crystallogr Sect E Struct Rep Online. 2011 Apr 1;67(Pt 4):m409. Epub 2011 Mar 9.
PMID:
21753941
[PubMed]
Natural orifice (NOTES) transurethral sutureless radical prostatectomy with thulium laser support: first patient report.
Nagele U, Anastasiadis AG, Walcher U, Nicklas AP, Merseburger AS, Herrmann TR.
World J Urol. 2011 Jul 8. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21739124
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
A highly selective fluorescent probe for pyrophosphate detection in aqueous solutions.
Ganjali MR, Hosseini M, Aboufazeli F, Faridbod F, Goldooz H, Badiei AR.
Luminescence. 2011 Jul 7. doi: 10.1002/bio.1316. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21735538
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Novel technique for mode selection in a multimode fiber laser.
Daniel JM, Chan JS, Kim JW, Sahu JK, Ibsen M, Clarkson WA.
Opt Express. 2011 Jun 20;19(13):12434-9. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.012434.
PMID:
21716482
[PubMed - in process]
13.1 W, high-beam-quality, narrow-linewidth continuous-wave fiber-based source at 970 nm.
Devi K, Kumar SC, Ebrahim-Zadeh M.
Opt Express. 2011 Jun 6;19(12):11631-7. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.011631.
PMID:
21716396
[PubMed - in process]
Plasmonic enhanced emissions from cubic NaYF(4):Yb: Er/Tm nanophosphors.
Sudheendra L, Ortalan V, Dey S, Browning ND, Kennedy IM.
Chem Mater. 2011 Jun 14;23(11):2987-2993.
PMID:
21709812
[PubMed]
Theoretical Treatment of Redox Processes Involving Lanthanide(II) Compounds: Reactivity of Organosamarium(II) and Organothulium(II) Complexes with CO(2) and Pyridine.
Labouille S, Nief F, Maron L.
J Phys Chem A. 2011 Jul 28;115(29):8295-8301. Epub 2011 Jul 6.
PMID:
21675778
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
[170Tm]-Labeled ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonic acid.
Chopra A.
Molecular Imaging and Contrast Agent Database (MICAD) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information (US); 2004-2011.
2011 Apr 27 [updated 2011 May 26].
PMID:
21656985
[PubMed]
Determination of rare earth elements and other trace elements (Y, Mn, Co, Cr) in seawater using Tm addition and Mg(OH)2 co-precipitation.
Freslon N, Bayon G, Birot D, Bollinger C, Barrat JA.
Talanta. 2011 Jul 15;85(1):582-7. Epub 2011 May 5.
PMID:
21645745
[PubMed - in process]
Tm:YAG laser en bloc mucosectomy for accurate staging of primary bladder cancer: early experience.
Wolters M, Kramer MW, Becker JU, Christgen M, Nagele U, Imkamp F, Burchardt M, Merseburger AS, Kuczyk MA, Bach T, Gross AJ, Herrmann TR.
World J Urol. 2011 Aug;29(4):429-32. Epub 2011 May 8.
PMID:
21553277
[PubMed - in process]
Current evidence for transurethral laser therapy of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
Kramer MW, Bach T, Wolters M, Imkamp F, Gross AJ, Kuczyk MA, Merseburger AS, Herrmann TR.
World J Urol. 2011 Aug;29(4):433-42. Epub 2011 May 5.
PMID:
21544662
[PubMed - in process]
Development of a thulium (Tm:YAP) laser system for brain tissue ablation.
Bilici T, Mutlu S, Kalaycioglu H, Kurt A, Sennaroglu A, Gulsoy M.
Lasers Med Sci. 2011 Sep;26(5):699-706. Epub 2011 Apr 12.
PMID:
21484452
[PubMed - in process]
Delayed presentation of a detached resectoscope beak and treatment with thulium laser.
Davis NF, McGuire BB, Flood HD.
Can Urol Assoc J. 2011 Apr;5(2):E17-8. doi: 10.5489/cuaj.10048.
PMID:
21470544
[PubMed]
High-pressure phase transitions in rare earth metal thulium to 195 GPa.
Montgomery JM, Samudrala GK, Tsoi GM, Vohra YK.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2011 Apr 20;23(15):155701. Epub 2011 Apr 1.
PMID:
21460429
[PubMed - in process]
Superbroadband near-infrared emission in Tm-Bi codoped sodium-germanium-gallate glasses.
Zhou B, Lin H, Chen B, Pun EY.
Opt Express. 2011 Mar 28;19(7):6514-23. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.006514.
PMID:
21451680
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Critical review of lasers in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Gravas S, Bachmann A, Reich O, Roehrborn CG, Gilling PJ, De La Rosette J.
BJU Int. 2011 Apr;107(7):1030-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2010.09954.x. Review.
PMID:
21438974
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Determination of some heavy metals in food and environmental samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after coprecipitation.
Soylak M, Aydin A.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2011 Jun;49(6):1242-8. Epub 2011 Mar 22.
PMID:
21419188
[PubMed - in process]
Efficient diode-pumped laser operation of Tm:Lu2O3 around 2?µm.
Koopmann P, Lamrini S, Scholle K, Fuhrberg P, Petermann K, Huber G.
Opt Lett. 2011 Mar 15;36(6):948-50. doi: 10.1364/OL.36.000948.
PMID:
21403738
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Comparison of high-dose rate prostate brachytherapy dose distributions with iridium-192, ytterbium-169, and thulium-170 sources.
Krishnamurthy D, Weinberg V, Cunha JA, Hsu IC, Pouliot J.
Brachytherapy. 2011 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
21397569
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher] |
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