An Introduction to Dysprosium or Dy Element
Below the main body of the periodic table are two rows of elements. These are the lanthanides and the actinides. If you consider the atomic numbers of the elements, you will notice they fit in the areas below scandium and yttrium. The reason they don't seem to be (usually) listed here is that this could make the table too wide to print on paper. Each of these rows of elements has characteristic properties.
Lanthanides are the rare-earth element elements of the modern periodic table i.e. the elements with atomic numbers from fifty-eight to seventy-one following the element lanthanum. Dysprosium (Dy) is a chemical element, a rare-earth metal of the lanthanide series of the periodic table.
What is Dysprosium?
Dysprosium is the 66th element within the periodic table. The Dysprosium symbol is Dy within the periodic table. Dysprosium is a lustrous, soft, and silvery metal. It's stable in air at room temperature even though it's slowly oxidised by oxygen. It reacts with cold water and quickly dissolves in acids. It forms many brightly coloured salts. Dysprosium's characteristics are often strongly affected by the presence of impurities.
Dysprosium
History of Dysprosium
Dysprosium was discovered in 1886 by Paul-Émile Lecoq De Boisbaudran in Paris. Its discovery came as a result of analysis into yttrium oxide, first made in 1794, and from that other rare earth (aka lanthanoids) were afterward to be extracted, specifically erbium in 1843, then holmium in 1878, and at last dysprosium. De Boisbaudran’s technique involved endless precipitation applied on the marble slab of his fireplace at home.
Pure samples of dysprosium weren't available till Frank Spedding and colleagues at Iowa State University developed the technique of ion-exchange chromatography around 1950. From then on, it was attainable to separate the rare-earth element elements in a reliable and efficient manner, though that technique of separation has currently been superseded by liquid-liquid exchange technology.
Dysprosium Electron Configuration
Generally, lanthanides and actinides have electron configurations that follow the Aufbau rule. There are some exceptions in a few of the lanthanide and actinide elements.
The electronic configuration of the lanthanoids is 4f1-14 5d0-1 6s2.
Dy (Dysprosium) is an element with position number sixty-six within the periodic table.
Reduced electronic configuration Dy:
[Xe] 4f10 6s2
Chemical Properties of Dysprosium
In common with several alternative lanthanides, dysprosium is found within the minerals monazite and bastnasite. It's additionally found in smaller quantities in many alternative minerals like xenotime and fergusonite.
It may be extracted from these minerals by solvent extraction or ion exchange. It can also be prepared by the reduction of Dy trifluoride with Ca metal. It seems like silvery, lustrous, and soft metal.
The Chemical Properties of Dysprosium are as Follows:
The element possesses wonderful stability at room temperature and often gets oxidised in the presence of oxygen.
This metal has about twenty-nine isotopes of mass numbers between 141 to 169. The number of naturally occurring isotopes for Dy is approximately seven, and all are better known to be stable isotopes.
The earth’s crust consists of about 5.2 mg/kg and also the concentration of dysprosium in seawater is about 0.9 mg/L.
The worldwide production of dysprosium (Dy) is around 100 tonnes and approx 99% of this can be created by artificial means in China.
Uses of Dysprosium
Being a radioactive element, the metal finds useful applications within the field of radioactivity.
Dysprosium is used in control rods in reactors of nuclear energy plants as they have the potential to absorb neutrons.
Metal bromide and iodide are used for high-intensity lamps.
Since the magnetic susceptibility is high, it's utilised in the applications of the data storage system.
The salts of dysprosium like aluminium garnet and iron garnet are used in adiabatic refrigerators.
Dysprosium Oxide and Dysprosium Nitrate
Dysprosium oxide with chemical composition Dy2O3, is one of the rare-earth element oxide families. It is a white slightly hygroscopic powder, and it's highly insoluble and thermally stable.
Dysprosium Nitrate could be a salt of dysprosium and nitric acid with the formula Dy(NO3)3.
When dysprosium oxide is dissolved in water it forms a crystalline hydrate of yellow colour.
Interesting Facts
Dysprosium is one of the most abundant lanthanide elements and is over twice as abundant as tin. Dysprosium(Dy) is rarely encountered as a free element however is found in several minerals.
Dysprosium has no biological role. Soluble dysprosium salts are gently toxic by consumption, whereas insoluble salts are non-toxic. From toxicity tests on mice, it had been calculated that a dose of five hundred grams or more would be required to put human life in danger.
Conclusion
The dysprosium (Dy) element was discovered by a French chemist named Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in the year 1886. This element with the symbol Dy is abundantly found in nature and even found in several minerals like gadolinite, xenotime, euxenite, fergusonite, and polycrase, which might even be known as sources of dysprosium.
FAQs on Dysprosium
1. What is Dysprosium and where is its position in the periodic table?
Dysprosium is a chemical element with the symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is classified as a rare-earth metal and belongs to the lanthanide series, which are the f-block elements located in the first row below the main body of the periodic table. It is a soft, lustrous, silvery metal.
2. What are the key physical and chemical properties of Dysprosium?
Dysprosium exhibits several distinct properties. Physically, it is a soft, silvery metal that is stable in air at room temperature. Chemically, it reacts slowly with cold water and dissolves quickly in acids. Its electron configuration is [Xe] 4f¹⁰ 6s², which leads to its most common and stable oxidation state of +3. Dysprosium forms many brightly coloured salts.
3. What are the most important real-world applications of Dysprosium?
Dysprosium has several highly specialised uses due to its unique properties. Its main applications include:
- Permanent Magnets: It is added to neodymium-iron-boron magnets to improve their performance at high temperatures, which is crucial for electric vehicle motors and wind turbine generators.
- Nuclear Reactors: It has a high capacity for absorbing neutrons, making it useful for making control rods in nuclear reactors.
- Data Storage: Its high magnetic susceptibility makes it valuable in hard disks and other data storage media.
- Specialised Lighting: Dysprosium iodide and bromide are used in high-intensity metal-halide lamps.
4. How is Dysprosium extracted from its natural sources?
Dysprosium is primarily obtained from minerals like monazite sand and bastnäsite, where it occurs alongside other rare-earth elements. The extraction process is complex because of the chemical similarity of the lanthanides. It involves separating it from other metals using advanced techniques like ion-exchange chromatography or liquid-liquid extraction. The pure metal is then produced by reducing its anhydrous fluoride or chloride with calcium or lithium metal.
5. Is Dysprosium radioactive or toxic to humans?
Dysprosium's naturally occurring isotopes are stable and not radioactive. Its usefulness in nuclear reactors stems from its ability to absorb neutrons, not from being radioactive itself. Regarding toxicity, Dysprosium has no known biological role. Its insoluble salts are considered non-toxic, while its soluble salts (like dysprosium chloride) are only mildly toxic if ingested in large quantities.
6. How does Dysprosium's electron configuration influence its chemical behaviour?
The electron configuration of Dysprosium, [Xe] 4f¹⁰ 6s², is key to its chemistry. It readily loses its two outer 6s electrons and one electron from the 4f subshell to form the stable Dy³⁺ ion. This tendency to form a +3 oxidation state is a characteristic shared by most lanthanides and is the reason for their similar chemical properties, which makes them difficult to separate from one another.
7. Why is Dysprosium called a 'rare-earth element' if it is relatively abundant?
The term 'rare-earth' is a historical misnomer. These elements are not geologically rare; in fact, Dysprosium is more abundant in the Earth's crust than elements like tin or silver. They were named 'rare' because when they were first discovered, they were found in uncommon minerals and were extremely difficult to isolate into their pure metallic forms due to their nearly identical chemical properties.
8. What makes Dysprosium essential for high-performance magnets in modern technology?
Dysprosium plays a critical role in enhancing neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, the strongest type of permanent magnets. While neodymium provides the primary magnetic strength, it loses this strength at higher temperatures. Adding Dysprosium atoms into the magnet's crystal structure dramatically increases its coercivity, which is its ability to resist demagnetisation at high temperatures. This property is vital for the durability of magnets used in high-performance applications like electric car motors and wind turbines.
9. What causes the bright colours of many Dysprosium compounds?
The pale yellow or green colours of many Dysprosium salts and solutions are caused by electronic transitions within the element's partially filled 4f orbitals. Electrons absorb specific wavelengths of light to jump between these f-orbitals. These f-f transitions are technically 'forbidden' by quantum mechanical selection rules, which causes them to be weak and have very sharp absorption bands. The light that is not absorbed is reflected, resulting in the characteristic colours we see.
