Europium

Europium is the most reactive of the lanthanides. It is best known for producing both red and blue phosphorescence, europium-doped phosphors are the reason old CRT television screens and early LED displays showed vivid red and blue colours.

• Atomic Number6363 protons, 63 electrons
• Atomic Mass151.964 u63× heavier than hydrogen
• State at Room TempSolidSolid
• Density5.24 g/cm³
• Melting / Boiling821.9°C / 1528.8°C
• Discovered1901

What is Europium?

Europium is a lanthanide rare earth metal with 63 protons. Europium-doped yttrium oxide phosphors produce the red colour in colour television and LED displays. Europium compounds also fluoresce blue. Euro banknotes are printed with europium-containing fluorescent ink visible under UV light, an anti-counterfeiting measure.

Fact Europium is element 63 in the periodic table, symbol Eu. As a lanthanide, it is part of the group of 15 elements sharing very similar chemistry, formed by the filling of the 4f electron subshell. All lanthanides form stable +3 ions and are found together in rare earth mineral deposits.

Where you find Europium

On Earth

Europium is found alongside other rare earth elements in minerals such as monazite, bastnäsite and xenotime. China produces the vast majority of world supply, with smaller contributions from Australia, the United States, Russia and India. It is never found as a free metal in nature.

• Monazite and bastnäsite. The primary rare earth minerals that contain Europium.
• Ion-adsorption clays. Certain clay deposits in southern China are particularly rich in heavier lanthanides including Europium.

How we use Europium

Europium-doped yttrium oxide phosphors produce the red colour in colour television and LED displays. Europium compounds also fluoresce blue. Euro banknotes are printed with europium-containing fluorescent ink visible under UV light, an anti-counterfeiting measure.

Did you know? Europium was one of the last lanthanides to be isolated in pure form. The extraordinary chemical similarity between adjacent lanthanides made separation extraordinarily difficult until ion exchange chromatography was developed in the 1940s.

How it was discovered

Europium was identified and separated from the mixture of rare earth elements found in minerals from Ytterby, Sweden and other locations, through painstaking fractional crystallisation and spectroscopic analysis over many decades in the 19th century.

Deeper dive: europium and rare earth supply chains

The lanthanides, often called rare earth elements, are critically important for clean energy technologies. Neodymium and praseodymium go into the powerful magnets in EV motors and wind turbines. Dysprosium improves those magnets at high temperatures. Lanthanum and cerium go into NiMH batteries, catalysts and glass. Europium and terbium provide red and green in LED phosphors. This means that the global transition to clean energy depends heavily on rare earth elements, and their supply is dominated by China, which produces over 60% of the world's rare earth output. Concerns about supply security have spurred investment in rare earth mining projects in Australia, Canada, the USA and elsewhere.

Moving to 64 protons brings us to the next element on the periodic table.