Without this metal, your electric car simply would not move. Dysprosium is a rare earth element that makes magnets heat-resistant. It allows motors in Teslas and Toyota Priuses to run at 200 °C without losing power. Its name comes from the Greek for "hard to get" — and that is no exaggeration.
The world mines only about 2,000 tons of dysprosium per year, and 95% comes from China. That makes Dy one of the scarcest strategic materials on the planet. Demand keeps rising every year — because electric vehicles, wind turbines, and drones are multiplying fast.
Dysprosium is a soft, silvery metal from the lanthanide group. French chemist Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered it in 1886, but a pure sample of the metal was not obtained until the 1950s. Dy has a remarkable magnetic personality: at room temperature it is paramagnetic, below 179 K it becomes antiferromagnetic, and below 85 K it turns ferromagnetic. This complex physics makes it irreplaceable in high-tech magnetic systems.
In bulk form, dysprosium is stable in air and poses no danger. But fine dysprosium powder is pyrophoric — it can ignite spontaneously when heated to 200–250 °C or from friction. Dy compounds have low toxicity, yet the dust irritates the respiratory tract and eyes. Gloves, safety goggles, and ventilation are required when handling it. Store in a dry place, away from open flames.
No dysprosium — no Tesla or Prius. Adding 2–6% Dy to neodymium magnets raises their operating temperature from 80 °C to 200 °C. Electric car motors heat up to 180 °C — without Dy they would simply demagnetize.
The name "dysprosium" comes from Greek "dysprositos" meaning "hard to get." The element was discovered in 1886, but the first pure metal sample was not produced until 64 years later, in 1950.
Dysprosium has the highest magnetic moment of any element at low temperatures — 10.6 Bohr magnetons per atom. The alloy DyAl₂ can be cooled to 0.5 K (-272.65 °C) using nothing but a magnetic field.
China controls 95% of global dysprosium production. The US, EU, and Japan classify it as a strategic material for national security. Supplies are so limited that scientists are even searching for dysprosium on the ocean floor.
The alloy Terfenol-D (terbium + dysprosium + iron) changes shape in a magnetic field. This effect — magnetostriction — powers submarine sonars and ultra-precise actuators.
Dysprosium is an excellent neutron absorber. The isotope Dy-164 has a capture cross-section of 2,650 barns — four times higher than cadmium. That is why Dy is used in nuclear reactor control rods.
| Isotope | Mass (u) | Abundance | Half-life | Decay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
156Dy | 155.924283 | 0.06% | stable | — |
158Dy | 157.924409 | 0.10% | stable | — |
160Dy | 159.925197 | 2.34% | stable | — |
161Dy | 160.926933 | 18.91% | stable | — |
162Dy | 161.926798 | 25.51% | stable | — |
163Dy | 162.928731 | 24.90% | stable | — |
164Dy | 163.929175 | 28.18% | stable | — |
Separation from holmium