Lutetium
Lutecio (Lu, Z=71)
- Date
- 1907 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Georges Urbain (and Carl Auer von Welsbach, Charles James)
- People
- 👤 Carl Auer von Welsbach1858–1929👤 Georges Urbain1872–1938
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Urbain, Auer von Welsbach and James independently separated lutetium from ytterbia; priority was granted to Urbain, who named it after Lutetia (Paris).
Auer von Welsbach claimed the name 'cassiopeium', used in Germany until the 1950s.
What it led to
- Lutetium oxyorthosilicate PET detectors
- Lu-177 radiotherapy
- Petroleum cracking catalysts
Built on
- Marignac's ytterbia
- Fractional crystallisation
Made possible
- LSO crystal for PET
- Therapeutic lutetium-177