Graduate
  1. Physical Chemistry  1.1. Thermodynamics  1.1.1. Laws of Thermodynamics  1.1.2. Enthalpy and heat capacity  1.1.3. Entropy and free energy  1.1.4. Phase Equilibrium  1.1.5. Statistical thermodynamics  1.1.6. Thermodynamic cycle  1.1.7. Fugacity and activity  1.2. Quantum Chemistry  1.2.1. Principles of quantum mechanics  1.2.2. Schrödinger Equation  1.2.3. Particle in a box  1.2.4. Operators and eigenvalues  1.2.5. Atomic orbitals  1.2.6. Molecular orbital theory  1.2.7. Perturbation theory  1.2.8. Valence bond theory  1.2.9. Hybridization and chemical bonding  1.3. Chemical kinetics  1.3.1. Rate laws and reaction mechanisms  1.3.2. Collision theory  1.3.3. Transition state theory  1.3.4. Enzyme Kinetics  1.3.5. Chain Reactions and Polymerization  1.3.6. Photochemical reactions  1.4. Statistical mechanics  1.4.1. Partitioning functions  1.4.2. Molecular distribution functions  1.4.3. Boltzmann Distribution  1.4.4. Bose–Einstein and Fermi–Dirac statistics  1.5. Spectroscopy  1.5.1. Rotational Spectroscopy  1.5.2. Vibrational Spectroscopy  1.5.3. Electronic Spectroscopy  1.5.4. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy  1.5.5. Mass Spectrometry  1.5.6. Raman Spectroscopy  1.5.7. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy  1.6. Surface and colloidal chemistry  1.6.1. Absorption isotherm  1.6.2. Surface tension and wetting  1.6.3. Colloidal Stability  1.6.4. Catalysis  1.6.5. Emulsions and micelles  1.7. Electrochemistry  1.7.1. Nernst equation  1.7.2. Electrochemical cells  1.7.3. Conductivity and mobility  1.7.4. War  1.7.5. Fuel cells  1.7.6. Electrolysis
  2. Organic chemistry  2.1. Reaction mechanism  2.1.1. Nucleophilic substitution reactions  2.1.2. Electrophilic addition reactions  2.1.3. Elimination reactions  2.1.4. Rearrangement reactions  2.1.5. Radical reactions  2.1.6. Pericyclic reactions  2.2. Spectroscopy and structural determination  2.2.1. UV-Vis Spectroscopy  2.2.2. IR Spectroscopy  2.2.3. NMR Spectroscopy  2.2.4. Mass Spectrometry  2.2.5. X-ray crystallography  2.3. Stereoscopic  2.3.1. Chirality and optical activity  2.3.2. Structural analysis  2.3.3. Geometrical isomerism  2.3.4. Dynamic Stereochemistry  2.4. Organometallic Chemistry  2.4.1. Organolithium and organomagnesium reagents  2.4.2. Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions  2.4.3. Transition Metal Complexes  2.4.4. Metal–carbon bond  2.5. Polymer chemistry  2.5.1. Polymerization mechanism  2.5.2. Polymer Characteristics  2.5.3. Biodegradable Polymer  2.5.4. Conducting polymer  2.5.5. Supramolecular polymers  2.6. Medicinal chemistry  2.6.1. Drug design and development  2.6.2. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics  2.6.3. Structure-activity relationships  2.6.4. Molecular docking and drug screening
  3. Inorganic chemistry  3.1. Coordination chemistry  3.1.1. Crystal field theory  3.1.2. Ligand field theory  3.1.3. Spectrochemical Series  3.1.4. Chelation and stability  3.2. Organometallic Chemistry  3.2.1. Metal Carbonyls  3.2.2. Catalysis by organometallic complexes  3.2.3. Metallocenes  3.3. Bio-inorganic chemistry  3.3.1. Metalloproteins and enzymes  3.3.2. The role of metals in biological systems  3.3.3. Metal ion transport and storage  3.4. Solid state chemistry  3.4.1. Crystal Structures  3.4.2. Band theory of solids  3.4.3. Superconductors  3.4.4. Defects in the crystal  3.5. Lanthanides and Actinides  3.5.1. Electronic configuration in lanthanides and actinides  3.5.2. Coordination chemistry of the lanthanides  3.5.3. Magnetic Properties of Lanthanides
  4. Analytical chemistry  4.1. Chromatography  4.1.1. Gas Chromatography  4.1.2. High Performance Liquid Chromatography  4.1.3. Thin Layer Chromatography  4.2. Spectroscopic Techniques  4.2.1. Atomic absorption spectroscopy  4.2.2. X-ray diffraction  4.2.3. Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy  4.3. Electroanalytical methods  4.3.1. Potentiometry  4.3.2. Voltammetry  4.3.3. Colometry  4.4. Mass Spectrometry  4.4.1. Ionization Technique  4.4.2. Fragmentation Pattern  4.5. Chemometrics  4.5.1. Multidisciplinary analysis  4.5.2. Machine Learning in Chemistry
  5. Theoretical and Computational Chemistry  5.1. Molecular dynamics simulation  5.1.1. Force fields and energy minimization  5.1.2. Monte Carlo simulation in molecular dynamics simulations  5.2. Quantum chemical methods  5.2.1. Hartree–Fock theory  5.2.2. Density functional theory  5.2.3. Semi-empirical methods  5.3. Computational drug design  5.3.1. Molecular Docking  5.3.2. QSAR Modeling  5.3.3. Virtual Screening
  6. Biochemistry  6.1. Enzyme Kinetics  6.1.1. Michaelis-Menten kinetics  6.1.2. Inhibition mechanism  6.2. Metabolism and Bioenergetics  6.2.1. Glycolysis  6.2.2. Citric acid cycle  6.2.3. Electron transport chain  6.3. molecular Biology  6.3.1. DNA replication and repair  6.3.2. Protein synthesis  6.3.3. Gene Regulation  6.4. Structural Biochemistry  6.4.1. Protein Folding  6.4.2. Membrane Biophysics
  7. Environmental Chemistry  7.1. Atmospheric Chemistry  7.1.1. Greenhouse gases  7.1.2. Ozone depletion  7.1.3. Air pollutants and smoke  7.2. Water Chemistry  7.2.1. pH and water hardness  7.2.2. Wastewater treatment  7.2.3. Aquatic Chemistry  7.3. Soil Chemistry  7.3.1. Heavy metal contamination  7.3.2. Soil pH and Buffering  7.3.3. Nutrient cycling  7.4. Toxicology and Chemical Safety  7.4.1. Toxicokinetics  7.4.2. Risk Assessment in Toxicology and Chemical Safety in Environmental Chemistry  7.4.3. Effects of pollutants on the environment

Graduate → Inorganic chemistry → Lanthanides and Actinides ↓


Magnetic Properties of Lanthanides


The lanthanides, also known as rare earth elements, are a series of 15 chemical elements ranging from lanthanum to lutetium, with atomic numbers 57 to 71 in the periodic table. They are known to have some very interesting magnetic properties due to their unique electron configurations.

Understanding electron configuration

To understand the magnetic properties of the lanthanides, it is first necessary to understand their electron configuration. The general electron configuration for the lanthanides is:

[Xe] 4f n 6s 2

Here, [Xe] refers to the electron configuration of xenon, the preceding noble gas, and varies from 1 to 14 in n series. The 4f orbitals are being filled in the lanthanide series.

Magnetic moment

Magnetism in atoms arises due to unpaired electrons in atomic orbitals. The magnetic moment of an atom is determined by two major factors:

  • Spin magnetic moment
  • Orbital magnetic moment

The total magnetic moment (µ) is given by:

µ = √{4S(S+1) + L(L+1)}

where S is the spin angular momentum and L is the orbital angular momentum.

Lanthanide magnetic properties

Lanthanides exhibit distinct magnetic properties due to the unpaired electrons in their 4f orbitals. Lanthanides follow Hund's rule, filling the 4f orbitals to maximize unpaired electrons, leading to high magnetic moments.

Example

Consider two examples: Gadolinium (Gd) with electron configuration of [Xe] 4f 7 5d 1 6s 2 shows high magnetic moment due to seven unpaired electrons in the 4f sub-shell.

Another example is lutetium (Lu) with the configuration [Xe] 4f 14 5d 1 6s 2, which exhibits diamagnetic behavior because the 4f orbitals are completely filled, resulting in no net magnetic moment.

Types of magnetism

Magnetic behaviour in materials can be understood through different types of magnetism:

  • Paramagnetism: Materials with unpaired electrons that align with the magnetic field, causing magnetism.
  • Diamagnetism: Materials in which all electrons are paired, and which weakly repel magnetic fields.
  • Ferromagnetism: Strong magnetism due to parallel alignment of atomic magnetic moments.
  • Antiferromagnetism: This is similar to ferromagnetism, but in this the adjacent moments are oppositely aligned, and cancel out.
  • Ferrimagnetism: Like antiferromagnetism, but the moments cancel out incompletely, resulting in a net magnetization.

In the lanthanides, paramagnetism is most common due to the presence of unpaired 4f electrons.

Effect of temperature

The magnetic properties of the lanthanides are greatly affected by temperature. According to the Curie-Weiss law:

χ = C / (T - Θ)

where χ is the magnetic susceptibility, C is the Curie constant, T is the temperature in Kelvin, and Θ is the Weiss constant.

For paramagnetic lanthanides, the magnetic moment decreases with increasing temperature due to increased thermal agitation.

Applications of lanthanide magnetism

The unique magnetic properties of the lanthanides make them useful in many applications:

  • Magnets: Neodymium magnets are one of the most powerful permanent magnets, used in hard drives and headphones.
  • Catalyst: Used in oil refining and automobile catalytic converters.
  • Laser technology: Some lanthanide ions such as Nd3 + are used in solid-state lasers.

Energy level example

Visual illustrations can help to understand the complex nature of lanthanide magnetism. Below is a sample illustration of the energy levels corresponding to different electron orbitals.

4F Electron Energy Levels

In this illustration, the several layers of energy correspond to different 4f electron states, each of which has a potential magnetic effect.

Closing thoughts

Lanthanides exhibit fascinating magnetic properties due to their unpaired 4f electrons. Their ability to exhibit different types of magnetism such as paramagnetism and ferromagnetism under different conditions such as temperature makes them important in various practical applications.

Further reading

For more in-depth study, explore resources such as textbooks on inorganic chemistry and articles on solid state physics, which offer in-depth discussions on the quantum mechanics affecting lanthanide magnetism.


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Magnetic Properties of Lanthanides

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