ABSTRACT
Samarium occurs as silver-coloured solid/foils or grey powder and is an odourless, ammable, and water-reactive solid. All forms of samarium are known to react with dilute acids emitting ammable/explosive hydrogen gas. Samarium on contact with water reacts and liberates extremely ammable gases. Samarium is incompatible with strong acids, strong oxidising agents, and halogens. The major commercial application of samarium is in samarium-cobalt magnets. These magnets possess permanent magnetisation property. Samarium compounds have been shown to withstand signicantly higher temperatures, above 700°C, without losing their magnetic properties. The radioactive isotope samarium-153 is the major component of the drug samarium 153Sm lexidronam (Quadramet). These are used in the treatment of cancers of lung, prostate, and breast and osteosarcoma. Samarium is also used in the catalysis of chemical reactions, radioactive dating, and in x-ray laser. Samarium is used as a catalyst in certain organic reactions: Samarium iodide (SmI2) is used by organic research chemists to make synthetic versions of natural products.
