Scientists have uncovered the properties of a rare earth element that was first discovered 80 years ago at the very same laboratory, opening a new pathway for the exploration of elements critical in modern technology, from medicine to space travel.
Promethium was discovered in 1945 at Clinton Laboratories, now the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and continues to be produced at ORNL in minute quantities. Some of its properties have remained elusive despite the rare earth element's use in medical studies and long-lived nuclear batteries. It is named after the mythological Titan who delivered fire to humans and whose name symbolizes human striving.
The other 14 lanthanides are well understood. They are metals with useful properties that make them indispensable in many modern technologies. They are workhorses of applications such as lasers, permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric vehicles, X-ray screens and even cancer-fighting medicines.
The ORNL scientists bound, or chelated, radioactive promethium with special organic molecules called diglycolamide ligands. Then, using X-ray spectroscopy, they determined the properties of the complex, including the length of the promethium chemical bond with neighboring atoms -- a first for science and a longstanding missing piece to the periodic table of elements.
Notably, the team provided the first demonstration of a feature of lanthanide contraction in solution for the whole lanthanide series, including promethium, atomic number 61. Lanthanide contraction is a phenomenon in which elements with atomic numbers between 57 and 71 are smaller than expected. As the atomic numbers of these lanthanides increase, the radii of their ions decrease.
The achievement will, among other things, ease the difficult job of separating these valuable elements, according to Jansone-Popova. The team has long worked on separations for the whole series of lanthanides,"but promethium was the last puzzle piece. It was quite challenging," she said."You cannot utilize all these lanthanides as a mixture in modern advanced technologies, because first you need to separate them.
Besides Popovs, Ivanov and Jansone-Popova from ORNL's Chemical Sciences Division, the paper's co-authors include Darren Driscoll, Subhamay Pramanik, Jeffrey Einkauf, Santanu Roy and Thomas Dyke, also of ORNL's Chemical Sciences Division; Frankie White, Richard Mayes, Laetitia Delmau, Samantha Cary, April Miller and Sandra Davern of ORNL's Radioisotope Science and Technology Division; Matt Silveira and Shelley VanCleve of ORNL's Isotope Processing and Manufacturing Division;...
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