Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths. vol.13 13

The justification for combining reports of studies of the rare earths from the disciplines of physics and chemistry can be found in the historical reliance each has had upon the other in the apprehension of these mysterious substances. This was stated in the preface to the first four volumes of the series and is even more true today. For a time, specializations thrived more or less independently but as theory has become more comprehensive it has become possible to progress towards unification of these specializations. Nowhere has this need for a unified approach been more evident than in the study of the rare earths where the insights won in one area become a vision to another resulting in the illumination of the whole. The lanthanides are particularly suited to multidisciplinary study because of the unity derived from the progressive filling of the 4f orbitals by electrons. This introduces many profound physical phenomena such as magnetism as well as the frequently subtle chemical variation that affords fine-tuning of our understanding of nature. Volume 13 of the Handbook continues to promote this interactive approach to the science of the rare earths. Insights won from focused study of some aspect of the field are presented in critical and authoritative reviews. Some of these add important archival material of general and lasting interest. Others on topical subjects will promote new understanding of active areas. The rare earths play a unique role in science. These seventeen related elements afford a panoply of subtle variations deriving from the systematic development of their electronic configurations, allowing a test of theory with excellent resolution. In contrast they find widespread use in even the most mundane processes, such as steel-making, for polishing materials and gasoline cracking catalysts. In between are exotic uses such as TV screen phosphors, lasers, high strength permanent magnets and chemical probes. This handbook covers the entire rare earth field in an integrated manner and each chapter is a comprehensive up-to-date, critical review of a particular segment of the field Covers topics pertaining to solid state physics and materials science, and describes organic (and inorganic) reactions mediated by tetravalent cerium-based oxidants and by divalent samarium-based reductants. This book also focuses on the synthesis and use of divalent samarium-based reductants in organic and inorganic reactions. This survey is concerned with the results of phase equilibria and crystal structures found in ternary rare earth systems.