ОАО 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, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, e-mail: dvdrobot@mail.ru

In 1878, Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac published a paper in which he reported having discovered a new element, which he called ‘ytterbium’. Marignac lamented that a limited amount of the primary mineral of gadolinite and a lengthy work process had prevented him from obtaining ytterbium oxide of acceptable purity and studying the properties of the new element. It was Swedish chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson who in 1879 took on verifying Marignac’s results. Thus, Nilson used gadolinite and euxenite as the primary material for his research, and he chose the method of fractional separation of nitrite hydrates as research technique. Nilson’s study proved the fact of Marignac’s discovery of ytterbium. Having completed his work on separating pure ytterbium oxide, Nilson looked at what had been left after the nitrite hydrate separation process. The properties of that material suggested that it could be a combination of ytterbium oxide and another oxide, the molecular weight of which should be less than that of ytterbium oxide. A spectroscopic study of that material revealed 29 spectral lines that were not typical of any of the known elements. Nilson suggested referring to the new element as ‘scandium’ to point out the fact that the minerals of gadolinite and euxenite, which had served as the source of the new element, originated from the Scandinavian Peninsula. A few weeks had hardly passed since Nilson announced his discovery of scandium, and another Swedish chemist and mineralogist Per Teodor Cléve confirmed the existence of that element. In fact, he discovered scandium in gadolinite and yttrotitanite from Norway. Cléve studied the properties of a number of scandium compounds and came to a surprising conclusion – the properties of scandium completely matched those of the element ecabor, the existence of which had been predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev back in 1871. The discovery of scandium, the existence of which had been predicted by Mendeleev on the basis of the Periodic Law discovered by him, played an important role for the general recognition of the Periodic Law. The first detailed study of the properties of scandium did not emerge till after 30 years since it had been discovered. The study was carried out by the famous English chemist Sir William Crookes. Crookes managed to recover a considerable amount of scandium from the mineral wiikite and so he was able to synthesize nume rous compounds of scandium: hydroxides, carbonates, chlorates, perchlorates, fluorides, sulphates, nitrates, formates, acetates, picrates, succinates, citrates and more than 40 other compounds. Currently, the global output and consumption of scandium are estimated at 20 to 30 tonnes per annum. A largescale commercial utilization of that element is constrained by its high price, which is due to the lack of large scandium deposits and a complex production process. Starting from the late 1970s, scandium has been primarily used as a doping element for aluminium alloys. More and more scandium is being used in solid oxide cells and 5G devices.

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