Erbium oxide, a pink solid, is a compound of erbium

Erbium

Erbium is a chemical element in the lanthanide series, with the symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements on Earth...

 sometimes used as a colouring for glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

es and a dopant for optical fibres and optical amplifier

Optical amplifier

An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of as a laser without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback from the cavity is suppressed...

s. It was partially isolated by Carl Gustaf Mosander

Carl Gustaf Mosander

Carl Gustaf Mosander was a Swedish chemist. He discovered the elements lanthanum, erbium and terbium....

 in 1843, and first obtained in pure form in 1905 by Georges Urbain

Georges Urbain

Georges Urbain - French chemist, professor of Sorbonne. He studied at the elite École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris . He discovered the element Lutetium in 1907.-References:...

 and Charles James.

Erbium oxide can be also used as a burnable neutron poison for nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...

.

It can react with acids to form the corresponding erbium(III) salts:

Er₂O₃ + 6 HCl → 2 ErCl₃ + 3 H₂O

External links

• "Erbium Oxide" page on Metall website