Samarium Sm

Samarium, a moderately hard silvery metal, also has a wide variety of applications. For example, samarium-cobalt magnets have high permanent magnetization and thermal stability. They are used in small motors, headphones and musical instruments. Samarium compounds are used as efficient catalysts for different reactions such as decomposition of plastics and dehydration of ethanol. Samarium-153 is used for cancer treatments, while samarium-149 is an efficient neutron capture with applications in nuclear reactors.