Lanthane - La

Lanthanum

Lanthanum is a soft, malleable, ductile, silver-white metal. Lanthanum is naturally found in sediments.: it oxidizes rapidly in air and it reacts with water to form the hydroxide. The 1:1 salt lanthanum phosphate (LaPO4) has an extremely low solubility in water, Similarly, lanthanum carbonate (La2(CO3)3) also has a very low water solubility, 1.02 x 10-7 mol/L, calculated from the Ksp of 4 x 10-34 mol5/L5 at 25°C and I = 0 mol/dm3 reported by Martell & Smith (1974).

Lanthanium in the environment / Applications

Lanthanum is used in equipment such as colour televisions, fluorescent lamps, energy-saving lamps and glasses.  La₂O₂ is used to make special optical glasses (infrared adsorbing glass, camera and telescope lenses). If added in small amounts it improves the malleability and resistence of steel. Lanthanum is used as the core material in carbon arc electrodes. Lanthanum salts are included in the zeolite catalysts used in petroleum refining because thay stabilize the zeolite at high temperatures. Lanthanum is used in large quantities in nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries.

Environmental effects of lanthanum

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