Ytterbium(III) oxide

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.

Preparation
Ytterbium(III) oxide can be obtained by directly reacting ytterbium with oxygen:


 * 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:


 * Yb2(CO3)3 -> Yb2O3 + 3CO2
 * Yb2(C2O4)3 -> Yb2O3 + 3 CO2 + 3CO

Chemical
Ytterbium(III) oxide is a white powder. It reacts with carbon tetrachloride or hot hydrochloric acid to form ytterbium(III) chloride:


 * 2 Yb2O3 + 3 CCl4 -> 4 YbCl3 + 3 CO2
 * Yb2O3 + 6 HCl -> 2 YbCl3 + 3 H2O

Physical
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.

Uses

 * Colorant for glasses and enamels
 * Dopant for garnet crystals in lasers
 * Optical fibers
 * Additive for special alloys and dielectric ceramic materials