Neodymium is a chemical element, symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a
silver gray metal from the group of rare earths. It is part of the lanthanide
family. At room temperature, it is ductile, malleable and oxidizes quickly in
air.
Its name comes from the Greek words ¦Í¦Åός (ne¨®s) and ¦Äί¦Ä¦Ô¦Ì¦Ïς (d¨ªdymos) meaning
"new" and "twin" 5,6,7 respectively. Indeed, chemists have long believed that
the mixture of praseodymium-neodymium oxide was a simple body until Carl Auer
von Welsbach separated them in 1886
Medicines: neodymium was used with other rare earth salts and like thorium in
pharmaceutical products for gynecological use like "Millot neothorium ova" in
the years 1920-193012.
Lighter stone: neodymium is used in the composition of mischmetal, the basis of
lighter stones.
Glass coloring: in combination with praseodymium, it colors sun protection
glasses and welding goggles.
Colorant for ceramics: depending on the salt used, blue to purple is obtained.
Cathode ray tubes: used in the composition of red phosphors.
Electronics: insulating composition for "ceramic" capacitors.
It is also used as an amplifying medium in many lasers, trapped in yttrium and
aluminum garnet (Laser Nd-YAG) or in glass, or even in pure silica.
in permanent magnets, in alloy with iron Nd2Fe14B because they are extremely
powerful13 but quite fragile. Most neodymium magnets have a thin layer of
nickel-copper-nickel to protect them from corrosion. They are used :
in the generators of certain wind turbines, mainly offshore14,
in the electric motors and generators of some hybrid cars.
in brushless motors of 2 electric wheels (electric scooters, VAE, EDP)
in the motor of many transducers used as well in dynamic microphones, stereo
headsets as the loudspeakers of acoustic speakers for public address or for
domestic use,
in hard disks, to constitute the engine which ensures the positioning of the
read / write heads,
for recreational purposes, to practice magnet fishing;
as a catalyst in the petroleum industry;
as a tracer for the activity of reprocessing residues from used nuclear fuels at
the Areva NC plant in La Hague15;
for some close-up magic tricks (Dominique Duvivier)
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rhenium germanium zirconium cadmium hafnium
barium lithium beryllium strontium calcium
Tantalum gadolinium samarium yttrium ytterbium
Lutetium praseodymium holmium erbium thulium dysprosium
terbium europium lanthanum cerium neodymium scandium
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