 Discovery Information |
| Who:
C.F. Aver von Welsbach
|
| When: 1925 |
| Where: Austria |
|
| Name Origin |
| Greek: neos (new) didymos (twin). |
|
| Sources |
| Neodymium is never found in nature as the free element. It occurs in ores such as monazite sand and bastnasite. |
|
| Uses |
| Used in ceramics to color glazes, and for special lens with praseodymium. Also to produce bright purple glass and special glass that filters infrared radiation. Neodymium is used in very powerful permanent magnets - Nd2Fe14B. These magnets are cheaper and also stronger than samarium-cobalt magnets. Neodymium magnets appear in products such as in-ear headphones and computer hard drives. |
|
| Notes |
| Neodymium metal dust is a combustion and explosion hazard. Neodymium compounds, like all
rare earth metals
, are of low to moderate toxicity; however its toxicity has not been thoroughly investigated. |
