Neodymium (Nd) is a rare-earth metal belonging to the lanthanide series of the periodic table. It is a ductile and malleable, silvery-white metal that readily oxidizes in air. Discovered in 1885 by Carl Auer von Welsbach, neodymium is more abundant in Earth's crust than lead. Neodymium's primary application is in high-strength permanent magnets (Nd₂Fe₁₄B), crucial for electric motors, generators, computer hard drives, and wind turbines. It is also used in the electronics industry, steel manufacturing, and as a component in alloys like misch metal. Neodymium compounds color glass and ceramics, and neodymium-stabilized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a key component in many lasers.

Where is neodymium found on the periodic table?

Neodymium (Nd) is a chemical element that belongs to the lanthanide series of the periodic table. It is classified as a rare-earth metal. The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered by their atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties. Neodymium is found within this arrangement as part of the lanthanide series, which includes elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71.

What are some common uses of neodymium?

Neodymium, a rare-earth metal, has several significant industrial applications. Its primary use is in the creation of powerful permanent magnets, specifically those based on the compound Nd2Fe14B. These magnets are crucial components in high-performance electric motors and generators, found in applications ranging from computer hard drives and wind turbines to electric vehicles. Neodymium compounds also play a role in the ceramics industry, where they are used to color glass and glazes in various shades of pink and purple. Furthermore, neodymium-stabilized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a key material in many modern lasers, and neodymium-doped glasses are utilized in fiber optics technology. A mixture of neodymium and praseodymium is also used in the glass for welders' and glassblowers' goggles to absorb harmful light.

Why are neodymium magnets important?

Neodymium magnets are crucial due to their exceptional strength and magnetic properties. They are a key component in high-performance electric motors and generators, as well as in devices like computer hard drives, cell phones, and wind turbines. The compound neodymium iron boride (Nd2Fe14B) is the strongest known permanent magnet material. Neodymium itself is a rare-earth metal known for its ductility and malleability, readily oxidizing in air. It is found in minerals like monazite and bastnasite.

How is neodymium obtained and processed?

Neodymium is obtained from minerals like bastnasite and monazite . These ores are first concentrated to about 60% rare-earth oxides (REO) through processes like flotation. The concentrate is then treated with acids to dissolve impurities. For instance, bastnasite can be leached with hydrochloric acid, and cerium is separated by oxidation. The individual rare-earth elements, including neodymium, are then separated using techniques such as ion exchange or liquid-liquid solvent extraction . Neodymium metal is prepared through electrolysis of its fused halides or by metallothermic reduction of its fluoride with calcium. High-purity neodymium is crucial for applications like permanent magnets used in electric motors and wind turbines.

What are some challenges with using and recycling neodymium?

While neodymium is relatively abundant, its extraction from ores can be challenging due to low concentration levels, often requiring co-mining with other elements like zirconium, uranium, or iron. Recycling neodymium presents complexities because it is frequently found in small quantities within intricate consumer electronics, alongside other valuable and potentially hazardous materials. The electrolytic process for preparing pure neodymium is limited to metals with lower melting points, and even then, it can result in contamination and frequent replacement of cell components. Despite these challenges, recycling is crucial for conserving this valuable resource.

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Key People:: Carl Auer, Freiherr von Welsbach

Related Topics:: chemical element; rare-earth element; neodymium alloy; neodymium-143

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neodymium

chemical element

Also known as: Nd

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What is neodymium?
Neodymium (Nd) is a rare-earth metal belonging to the lanthanide series of the periodic table. It is a ductile and malleable, silvery-white metal that readily oxidizes in air. Discovered in 1885 by Carl Auer von Welsbach, neodymium is more abundant in Earth's crust than lead.

Neodymium's primary application is in high-strength permanent magnets (Nd₂Fe₁₄B), crucial for electric motors, generators, computer hard drives, and wind turbines. It is also used in the electronics industry, steel manufacturing, and as a component in alloys like misch metal. Neodymium compounds color glass and ceramics, and neodymium-stabilized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a key component in many lasers.
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Where is neodymium found on the periodic table?
Neodymium (Nd) is a chemical element that belongs to the lanthanide series of the periodic table. It is classified as a rare-earth metal. The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered by their atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties. Neodymium is found within this arrangement as part of the lanthanide series, which includes elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71.
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What are some common uses of neodymium?
Neodymium, a rare-earth metal, has several significant industrial applications. Its primary use is in the creation of powerful permanent magnets, specifically those based on the compound Nd₂Fe₁₄B. These magnets are crucial components in high-performance electric motors and generators, found in applications ranging from computer hard drives and wind turbines to electric vehicles.

Neodymium compounds also play a role in the ceramics industry, where they are used to color glass and glazes in various shades of pink and purple. Furthermore, neodymium-stabilized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a key material in many modern lasers, and neodymium-doped glasses are utilized in fiber optics technology. A mixture of neodymium and praseodymium is also used in the glass for welders' and glassblowers' goggles to absorb harmful light.
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Why are neodymium magnets important?
Neodymium magnets are crucial due to their exceptional strength and magnetic properties. They are a key component in high-performance electric motors and generators, as well as in devices like computer hard drives, cell phones, and wind turbines. The compound neodymium iron boride (Nd₂Fe₁₄B) is the strongest known permanent magnet material. Neodymium itself is a rare-earth metal known for its ductility and malleability, readily oxidizing in air. It is found in minerals like monazite and bastnasite.
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How is neodymium obtained and processed?
Neodymium is obtained from minerals like bastnasite and monazite. These ores are first concentrated to about 60% rare-earth oxides (REO) through processes like flotation. The concentrate is then treated with acids to dissolve impurities. For instance, bastnasite can be leached with hydrochloric acid, and cerium is separated by oxidation.

The individual rare-earth elements, including neodymium, are then separated using techniques such as ion exchange or liquid-liquid solvent extraction. Neodymium metal is prepared through electrolysis of its fused halides or by metallothermic reduction of its fluoride with calcium. High-purity neodymium is crucial for applications like permanent magnets used in electric motors and wind turbines.
3 Britannica Sources
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What are some challenges with using and recycling neodymium?
While neodymium is relatively abundant, its extraction from ores can be challenging due to low concentration levels, often requiring co-mining with other elements like zirconium, uranium, or iron. Recycling neodymium presents complexities because it is frequently found in small quantities within intricate consumer electronics, alongside other valuable and potentially hazardous materials. The electrolytic process for preparing pure neodymium is limited to metals with lower melting points, and even then, it can result in contamination and frequent replacement of cell components. Despite these challenges, recycling is crucial for conserving this valuable resource.
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neodymium (Nd), chemical element, a rare-earth metal of the lanthanide series of the periodic table.

Neodymium is a ductile and malleable silvery white metal. It oxidizes readily in air to form an oxide, Nd₂O₃, which easily spalls, exposing the metal to further oxidation. The metal must be stored sealed in a plastic covering or kept in vacuum or in an inert atmosphere. It reacts gradually with mineral acids—except hydrofluoric acid (HF), in which it forms a protective layer of trifluoride, NdF₃. Neodymium is strongly paramagnetic and orders antiferromagnetically at 7.5 and 19.9 K (−265.7 and −253.3 °C, or −446.2 and −423.9 °F) with spontaneous magnetic moments developing separately on different independent sites, hexagonal and cubic, respectively.

Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach discovered neodymium in 1885 by separating ammonium didymium nitrate prepared from didymia (a mixture of rare-earth oxides) into a neodymium fraction and a praseodymium fraction by repeated crystallization. Of the rare earths, only yttrium, lanthanum, and cerium are more plentiful than neodymium. In the igneous rocks of Earth’s crust, it is more than twice as abundant as lead and about half as plentiful as copper.

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Natural neodymium is a mixture of seven different isotopes. Five of them are stable—neodymium-142 (27.13 percent), neodymium-146 (17.19 percent), neodymium-143 (12.18 percent), neodymium-145 (8.30 percent), and neodymium-148 (5.76 percent)—and two are radioactive, neodymium-144 (23.80 percent) and neodymium-150 (5.64 percent). A total of 31 radioactive isotopes of neodymium (excluding nuclear isomers) have been characterized, ranging in mass from 124 to 161 and in half-life from 0.65 second (neodymium-125) to 7.9 × 10¹⁸ years (neodymium-150).

Neodymium occurs in the minerals monazite and bastnasite and is a product of nuclear fission. Liquid-liquid separation or ion-exchange techniques are employed for separation and purification of neodymium. The metal itself is prepared by electrolysis of the fused halides or by metallothermic reduction of the fluoride with calcium. Two allotropes (structural forms) of neodymium exist: the α-phase is double close-packed hexagonal with a = 3.6582 Å and c = 11.7966 Å at room temperature. The β-phase is body-centred cubic with a = 4.13 Å at 883 °C (1,621 °F).

The major application of neodymium is in high-strength permanent magnets based on Nd₂Fe₁₄B that are used in high-performance electric motors and generators, as well as in spindle magnets for computer hard drives and wind turbines. The metal is used in the electronics industry, in the manufacture of steel, and as a component in a number of ferrous and nonferrous alloys, among them misch metal (15 percent neodymium), used for lighter flints. The metal itself—and as an alloy with another lanthanide, erbium—has been employed as a regenerator in low-temperature cryocooler applications to provide cooling down to 4.2 K (−269 °C, or −452 °F). Its compounds are used in the ceramics industry for glazes and to colour glass in various shades from pink to purple. Neodymium-stabilized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a component of many modern lasers, and neodymium glasses are used in fibre optics. A mixture of neodymium and praseodymium absorbs light in the region of the harmful sodium-D spectral lines and therefore is used in the glass of welders’ and glassblowers’ goggles.

The element in its compounds such as the oxide Nd₂O₃ and the hydroxide Nd(OH)₃ is nearly always in the +3 oxidation state; the Nd³⁺ ion is stable in water. Only a few compounds of neodymium in the +2 state have been prepared, such as the diiodide NdI₂ and the dichloride NdCl₂; the Nd²⁺ ion is unstable in aqueous solution.

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Element Properties
atomic number	60
atomic weight	144.24
melting point	1,021 °C (1,870 °F)
boiling point	3,074 °C (5,565 °F)
specific gravity	7.008 (25 °C, or 77 °F)
oxidation states	+2 (rare, unstable), +3
electron configuration	[Xe]4f⁴6s²

This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.

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