Solikamsk Magnesium Plant OJSC, Solikamsk, Russia

P. G. Detkov, Member of the Board, Candidate of Technical Sciences, e-mail: p.detkov@yandex.ru

Independent Expert, Moscow, Russia

D. V. Drobot, Independent Expert, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, e-mail: dvdrobot@mail.ru

In 1843, Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander reported that he had discovered two new chemical elements in the yttrium-containing mineral of gadolinite. He called them ‘erbium’ and ‘terbium’. He used the method of fractional crystallization of oxalates to separate these new elements from yttrium. In 1860, another Swedish scientist – Nils Johan Berlin – took on verifying Mosander’s results. But he only managed to separate yttrium and erbium from gadolinite. In his research study, Berlin mistook terbium for erbium and this mistake passed over in the works by other researchers. In 1864, German scientist Otto Popp published a paper in which he reported that according to the results of his studies he had failed to find evidence of the existence of erbium and terbium. According to Popp, Mosander took the already known elements for erbium and terbium by mistake. In 1865, Swiss chemist Marc Delafontaine publishes a paper in which he proves the existence of erbium. As for terbium, Delafontaine believes that Mosander was right when he defined terbium as a separate element. In 1866, German scientist Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and his assistant, Swedish chemist Johan Bar, started to look at the problem of erbium and terbium and their existence. In their research, they relied on the method of nitrate hydrate decomposition. Having conducted a great number of fractional crystallizations, they were able to separate individual oxides of erbium and terbium from gadolinite. The attempt to discover terbium in the mineral was not successful. In 1872, Swedish scientists Cléve and Höglund also used the method of nitrate hydrate decomposition. They were able to separate yttrium and erbium, but they failed to detect terbium. In 1878, Swiss scientist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac publishes a paper on gadolinite, for the study of which he used a modified method of nitrate hydrate decomposition. It took him around two years to finish his research. Eventually, Marignac managed to prove the existence of erbium and terbium, which had been discovered by Mosander back in 1843. In the same year, Marignac took a closer look at the erbium oxide samples, which had accumulated from the previous study, and he was able to separate a new element, which he called ‘ytterbium’.

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