Lanthanum
The first of the lanthanides, and the element that made nickel-metal-hydride batteries and modern oil refining work.
Lanthanum gives its name to the lanthanide series and is one of the more abundant rare earths, despite the name of the group. It is soft, reactive and oxidises rapidly in air, so it is stored under oil or in an inert atmosphere.
Its industrial significance is easy to miss because it works inside things. Lanthanum compounds are the active component of the fluid catalytic cracking catalysts that convert heavy petroleum fractions into petrol and diesel, a process that underlies most of the world's transport fuel supply.
Uses
Fluid catalytic cracking is the largest use by tonnage, and refineries consume lanthanum continuously as the catalyst is replaced.
Lanthanum-nickel alloys absorb hydrogen reversibly and were the basis of nickel-metal-hydride batteries, which powered the first generation of hybrid cars. Lanthanum oxide raises the refractive index of optical glass, so it appears in camera lenses. Lanthanum carbonate is a prescribed medicine that binds excess phosphate in patients with kidney failure, and lanthanum is a component of mischmetal lighter flints.
How we know: checked recently · only one source, so there is nothing to cross-check it against · stated directly by the source.
How this connects
Where a connection has been confirmed by an outside reference, that reference is named beside it.
is used as
- Catalysis — application · fluid catalytic cracking, which underlies most transport fuel supply
is produced by
- Rare earth separation — process · a light rare earth, separated from its neighbours by countercurrent solvent extraction
is a component of
- Mischmetal — alloy · 20–30% · roughly a quarter, again as the ore gave it
is found in
- Bastnäsite — mineral · substitutes within a solid solution — an individual specimen may hold little of it
- Monazite — mineral · substitutes within a solid solution — an individual specimen may hold little of it
Sources
- Material WorldOur own writing
- Wikimedia Foundation · Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication)
- US National Library of Medicine · Mixed — aggregated third-party content, rights retained by depositors
- United States Department of Commerce · US Government work — public information, credit requested