cerium
Sign in to saveCerium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ce and atomic number 58, and is a soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it often shows the oxidation state of +3 characteristic of the series, it also has a stable +4 state that does not oxidize water. It is considered one of the rare-earth elements. Cerium has no known biological role in humans but is not particularly toxic, except with intense or continued exposure.
AI overview
Cerium is a silvery-white metal and rare-earth element that can exist in two different chemical states, one of which is unusually stable and resistant to oxidation. Although cerium has no known biological purpose in the human body and is not particularly toxic under normal circumstances, it is used in various industrial and technological applications.
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Article
19 sectionsContents
- Characteristics
- Physical
- Chemical properties of the element
- Allotropes
- Isotopes
- Compounds
- Halides
- Oxides and chalcogenides
- Cerium(IV) complexes
- Organocerium compounds
- History
- Occurrence and production
- Applications
- Gas mantles and pyrophoric alloys
- Pigments and phosphors
- Other uses
- Biological role and precautions
- References
- Bibliography
Cerium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ce and atomic number 58, and is a soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it often shows the oxidation state of +3 characteristic of the series, it also has a stable +4 state that does not oxidize water. It is considered one of the rare-earth elements. Cerium has no known biological role in humans but is not particularly toxic, except with intense or continued exposure.
Despite always occurring in combination with the other rare-earth elements in minerals such as those of the monazite and bastnäsite groups, cerium is easy to extract from its ores, as it can be distinguished among the lanthanides by its unique ability to be oxidized to the +4 state in aqueous solution. It is the most common of the lanthanides, followed by neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium. Its estimated abundance in the Earth's crust is 68 ppm.