Elemental Analysis - Ytterbium (Yb)

Ytterbium is a soft, silvery-white metal that is both ductile and malleable. It darkens rapidly in air and oxidizes slowly, forming a protective surface layer. Reacts slowly with water.

Ytterbium has low biological toxicity.

As with many lanthanide elements, ytterbium is mainly found in the mineral monazite. It can be extracted by ion exchange and solvent extraction method. Today, ytterbium is mainly obtained through an ion exchange process from monazite sand, a material rich in rare earth elements.

The element ytterbium has several uses. It is alloyed with stainless steel to improve some of its mechanical properties and is used as an additive in fiber optic cable where it can be used as an amplifier. One of the isotopes of ytterbium is recognized as a radiation source for portable X-ray machines.

Ytterbium is used in various fields such as memory devices and tunable lasers. It is also used as an industrial catalyst and is increasingly being chosen to replace other catalysts considered to be very toxic and polluting.

The isotope of ytterbium-160 is radioactive and is used in portable X-ray machines that do not need electricity. Under very high physical stress, the electrical resistance of ytterbium increases greatly. For this reason, it is used in stress measuring devices to monitor soil deformations.

In the tests and analyzes carried out in our organization, which has a wide range of technological equipment, trained and experienced staff and applies the most modern methods, national and international standards and legal regulations in force are complied with. Among the numerous tests carried out in this context, there are also ytterbium (Yb) testing services within the framework of elemental analysis.