Europium(III) oxide (Eu₂O₃), is a chemical compound of

europium Europium is a chemical element with the symbol Eu and atomic number 63. Europium is the most reactive lanthanide by far, having to be stored under an inert fluid to protect it from atmospheric oxygen or moisture. Europium is also the softest lanth ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

. It is widely used as a red or blue

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

television sets A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...

and

fluorescent lamps A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, which produces short-wave ultraviolet ligh ...

, and as an activator for

yttrium Yttrium is a chemical element with the symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a " rare-earth element". Yttrium is almost always found in c ...

-based phosphors. It is also an agent for the manufacture of fluorescent glass. Europium fluorescence is used in the anti-counterfeiting phosphors in

Euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

banknotes. Europium oxide has two common structures:

Monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic ...

( mS30,

space group In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of an object in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of an object that leave it ...

''C''2/''m'', No. 12) and cubic ( cI80, space group ''I''a, No. 206). The cubic structure is similar to that of

manganese(III) oxide Manganese(III) oxide is a chemical compound with the formula Mn2O3. It occurs in nature as the mineral bixbyite (recently changed to bixbyite-(Mn)IMA 21-H: Redefinition of bixbyite and definition of bixbyite-(Fe) and bixbyite-(Mn). CNMNC Newslett ...

. It may be formed by ignition of

metal. It can react with acids to form the corresponding europium(III) salts.

Gallery

File:Tl2O3structure.jpg, Cubic Eu₂O₃ File:Gd2O3structure.jpg, Monoclinic Eu₂O₃

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Europium(Iii) Oxide Europium(III) compounds Glass engineering and science Sesquioxides