Dysprosium - hard to get

Dysprosium earned its name by being very hard to separate from other elements and has become very important in electric car motors. Join Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 25 of Elemental.

Dysprosium gets its name from the Greek element dysprositos, meaning 'hard to get'. This is because like most lanthanoids, or rare earth elements, it is found in a mineral deposit tightly bound to various other lanthanoids.

Dysprosium (chemical symbol Dy and atomic number 66) is very reactive, and as a pure metal it reacts with both air and water.

It only has a few commercial uses, the main one being as a magnet in the drive motor of electric cars. The problem, as Professor Allan Blackman from AUT, explains is that there is not enough dysprosium to service the rapidly growing electric car market.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details