Dysprosium

66

terbium ← dysprosium → holmium


-
↑
Dy
↓
Cf




periodic table




General


Name, Symbol, Number

dysprosium, Dy, 66


Chemical series
lanthanides


Group, Period, Block

n/a, 6, f


Appearance
silvery white 



Atomic mass
162.500(1) g/mol


Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f10 6s2


Electrons per shell
2, 8, 18, 28, 8, 2


Physical properties


Phase
solid


Density (near r.t.)
8.540 g/cm³


Liquid density at m.p.
8.37 g/cm³


Melting point
1680 K
(1407 °C, 2565 °F)


Boiling point
2840 K
(2567 °C, 4653 °F)


Heat of fusion
11.06 kJ/mol


Heat of vaporization
280 kJ/mol


Heat capacity
(25 °C) 27.7 J/(mol·K)




Vapor pressure


P/Pa
1
10
100
1 k
10 k
100 k


at T/K
1378
1523
(1704)
(1954)
(2304)
(2831)



Atomic properties


Crystal structure
hexagonal


Oxidation states
3
(weakly basic oxide)


Electronegativity
1.22 (Pauling scale)


Ionization energies
(more)

1st: 573.0 kJ/mol


2nd: 1130 kJ/mol


3rd: 2200 kJ/mol


Atomic radius
175 pm


Atomic radius (calc.)
228 pm


Miscellaneous


Magnetic ordering
nonmagnetic at r.t.,
ferromagnetic under
liquid nitrogen


Electrical resistivity
(r.t.) (α, poly) 926 nΩ·m


Thermal conductivity
(300 K) 10.7 W/(m·K)


Thermal expansion
(r.t.) (α, poly)
9.9 µm/(m·K)


Speed of sound (thin rod)
(20 °C) 2710 m/s


Speed of sound (thin rod)
(r.t.) (α form) 61.4 m/s


Shear modulus
(α form) 24.7 GPa


Bulk modulus
(α form) 40.5 GPa


Poisson ratio
(α form) 0.247


Vickers hardness
540 MPa


Brinell hardness
500 MPa


CAS registry number
7429-91-6


Notable isotopes




Main article: Isotopes of dysprosium


iso

NA

half-life

DM

DE (MeV)

DP


154Dy

syn

3.0×106y

α

2.947

150Gd


156Dy

0.06%

Dy is stable with 90 neutrons


158Dy

0.10%

Dy is stable with 92 neutrons


160Dy

2.34%

Dy is stable with 94 neutrons


161Dy

18.91%

Dy is stable with 95 neutrons


162Dy

25.51%

Dy is stable with 96 neutrons


163Dy

24.90%

Dy is stable with 97 neutrons


164Dy

28.18%

Dy is stable with 98 neutrons


Dysprosium (chemical symbol Dy, atomic number 66) is a rare earth element that has a metallic, bright silver luster.[1]

Contents

1 Occurrence
2 History
3 Notable characteristics

3.1 Isotopes


4 Compounds
5 Applications
6 Precautions
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links
11 Credits



Occurrence
Dysprosium is never encountered as a free element but is found in many minerals, including xenotime, fergusonite, gadolinite, euxenite, polycrase, blomstrandine, monazite, and bastnasite. It often occurs with erbium, holmium, and other rare earth elements.

History
Dysprosium was first identified in Paris in 1886 by French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. However, the element itself was not isolated in relatively pure form until after the development of ion exchange and metallographic reduction techniques in the 1950s. The name dysprosium is derived from the Greek word δυσπροσιτος [dysprositos], meaning "hard to obtain."

Notable characteristics
Dysprosium is an inner transition metal (or lanthanide) that lies in period six of the periodic table, between terbium and holmium. It is relatively stable in air at room temperature, but dissoves readily in dilute or concentrated mineral acids with the emission of hydrogen. It is soft enough to be cut with bolt-cutters (but not with a knife), and can be machined without sparking if overheating is avoided. Dysprosium's characteristics can be greatly affected even by small amounts of impurities.

Isotopes
Naturally occurring dysprosium is composed of seven stable isotopes—156-Dy, 158-Dy, 160-Dy, 161-Dy, 162-Dy, 163-Dy and 164-Dy—with 164-Dy being the most abundant (28.18 percent natural abundance). 28 radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being 154-Dy with a half-life of 3.0E+6 years, 159-Dy with a half-life of 144.4 days, and 166-Dy with a half-life of 81.6 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than ten hours, and the majority of these have half lives that are less than 30 seconds. This element also has five meta states, with the most stable being 165m-Dy (t½ 1.257 minutes), 147m-Dy (t½ 55.7 seconds) and 145m-Dy (t½ 13.6 seconds).
The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, 164-Dy, is electron capture, and the primary mode after is beta minus decay. The primary decay products before 164-Dy are terbium isotopes, and the primary products after are holmium isotopes.

Compounds
Nearly all dysprosium compounds are in the +3 oxidation state, and are highly paramagnetic. Holmium(III) oxide (Ho2O3) and Dysprosium(III) oxide (Dy2O3) are the most powerfully paramagnetic substances known.
Dysprosium compounds include:

Fluorides
DyF3
Chlorides
DyCl2
DyCl3
Bromides
DyBr2
DyBr3
Iodides
DyI2
DyI3
Oxides
Dy2O3
Sulfides
Dy2S3
Nitrides
DyN
Applications
Dysprosium is used, in conjunction with vanadium and other elements, in making laser materials. Its high thermal neutron absorption cross-section and melting point also suggests that it is useful for nuclear control rods. Dysprosium oxide (also known as dysprosia), with nickel cement compounds—which absorb neutrons readily without swelling or contracting under prolonged neutron bombardment—is used for cooling rods in nuclear reactors. Dysprosium-cadmium chalcogenides are sources of infrared radiation for studying chemical reactions. Furthermore, dysprosium is used for manufacturing compact discs. Because it is highly paramagnetic, dysprosium has been used as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging.
Below 85K dysprosium is ferromagnetic, with a high susceptibility. It is often used for the fabrication of nanomagnets, particularly in research. Its usefulness, however, is limited by its high readiness to oxidise.

Precautions
As with the other lanthanides, dysprosium compounds are of low to moderate toxicity, although their toxicity has not been investigated in detail. Dysprosium does not have any known biological role.

See also
Chemical element
Inner transition metal
Metal
Periodic table
Notes

↑ The term "rare earth metals" (or "rare earth elements") is a trivial name applied to 16 chemical elements: scandium, yttrium, and 14 of the 15 lanthanides (excluding promethium), which occur naturally on Earth. Some definitions also include the actinides. The word "earth" is an obsolete term for oxide. The term "rare earth" is discouraged by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), as these elements are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust.


ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Chang, Raymond. Chemistry. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math, 2006. ISBN 0073221031
Cotton, F. Albert, and Geoffrey Wilkinson. Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. 4th ed. New York: Wiley, 1980. ISBN 0471027758
Greenwood, N.N. and A. Earnshaw. Chemistry of the Elements. 2nd ed. Oxford, U.K.; Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier Science, 1998. ISBN 0750633654. Online version. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
Jones, Adrian P., Frances Wall, and C. Terry Williams. Rare Earth Minerals: Chemistry, Origin and Ore Deposits. The Mineralogical Society Series. London, UK: Chapman and Hall, 1996. ISBN 0412610302 and ISBN 978-0412610301
Stwertka, Albert. Guide to the Elements. Rev. ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0195080831
External links
All links retrieved October 4, 2017.

WebElements.com – Dysprosium
It's Elemental – Dysprosium

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