Discovery of europium

Europium was discovered in 1901 by the French chemist Eugene-Anatole Demarcay, who had spent years refining samples of samarium, a rare earth element, and noticed spectral lines in them that could not be attributed to samarium. He separated the new element and named it after the continent of Europe. Earlier spectral observations by other scientists had hinted at its presence, but Demarcay is credited with its isolation. Europium is a soft, reactive metal that oxidises rapidly in air. Its compounds are strongly fluorescent, and europium was the source of the red colour in colour television tubes. It is also used in the phosphors of fluorescent lamps and LEDs, and in euro banknotes, where it forms part of the security features that glow under ultraviolet light.

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