Lanthanum Uses

Lanthanum is a rare earth element which is found in minerals like bastnasite, monazite, cerite, and allanite. It is silvery white in color, and is so soft that it can be cut with a knife. It is also ductile, which means that if hammered it can be drawn into a wire. Also it is malleable, which means that it can be given any form by hammering or by applying pressure. Don't get yourself confused with the term rare, because it is not literally rare, it comes under the rare earth group in the periodic table. It is symbolically represented as La and its atomic number is 57.

Lanthanum was discovered in 1839 by Carl Mosander. Its purified form was later developed after a century. The word 'Lanthanum' has been derived from the Greek term lanthanein, which means 'to lie hidden'. This is because it was not an easy task for Mosander to discover the element, as it wasn't in its pure form. In recent years, it has been made available on a large-scale. Lanthanum is largely used in misch metal, which is used as a flint in lighters.

Lanthanum is amongst the most reactive metals and it oxidizes when exposed to air. It is lesser reactive to cold water than hot water. Care must be taken while handling it as it is highly reactive with elements like nitrogen, boron, carbon, sulfur, silicon, halogens, and phosphorous. It is used for treatment of diseases as a medicine, used for lighting purposes, optical fibers, pool cleaners, etc. Only components produced from lanthanum are used in medicines.

Uses of Lanthanum

One cannot imagine how extensively this metal is used. Mentioned below are some of the lanthanum uses.

• Lanthanum is used in the manufacturing of optics in glass. It is also used for cracking catalyst as a hydrocarbons in oil refineries.
• Lanthanum elements are found to be used in commercial studio lighting.
• Biologically lanthanum is considered as mildly toxic. Few studies found out that if exposed to this metal, it may result in organ damage. But lanthanum which is used for medication, is processed for human use.
• Being the first member of the lanthanide series, lanthanum is recovered by the process of solvent extraction from the bastnasite mineral. Lanthanum is a vital element as it is required in catalyst to produce fuel for vehicles and aircraft.
• Lanthanide is used everyday in fuel cells and batteries as alloys. They are used for power generation.
• Lanthanum is used widely in cameras, video cameras and lenses. It is used in optics widely as it provides more flexibility in the refractive index and helps in modifying glass crystal structure.
• One of the most important use of lanthanum is in X-ray films and other types of lasers, as it helps in the reduction of harmful radiation to an impressive extent.
• Lanthanum containing rare earth compounds are used widely in carbon lighting objects, also used in studio lighting and projection.
• It is a Misch metal, which is an alloy which when rubbed, produces sparks. It is used extensively in producing cigarette lighters.
• Its compounds are also used in carbon arc lamps, which produce very bright white light.
• Recently, lanthanum glass is being used for manufacturing optical fibers. It is a wire made of glass. Optical fibers are a great means of carrying video, audio and digital data.
• Medically, it is used for the treating excessive blood phosphate levels (hyperphosphatemia) in patients who are on dialysis because of a kidney disease.
• Lanthanum should be taken orally only when prescribed by your doctor. It is to be chewed first and then swallowed only with water. It must not be swallowed as whole. You can crush the tablet to make it easy to chew.

The uses of lanthanum are huge and is being used widely all over. In the near future if electric vehicles are commercialized widely, then lanthanum will be used on a much larger scale.