The name derives from the Greek neos for "new" and didymos for "twin". It was discovered by the Swedish surgeon and chemist Carl Gustav Mosander in 1841, who called it didymium (or twin) because of its similarity to lanthanum, which he had previously discovered two years earlier. In 1885, the Austrian chemist Carl Auer (Baron von Welsbach) separated didymium into two elements, one of which he called neodymium (or new twin).
Neodymium was discovered by Carl F. Auer von Welsbach, an Austrian chemist, in 1885. He separated neodymium, as well as the element praseodymium, from a material known as didymium. Today, neodymium is primarily obtained from through an ion exchange process monazite sand ((Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO4), a material rich in rare earth elements.
From the Greek word neos meaning new, and didymos, twin. In 1841, Mosander, extracted a rose-colored oxide from cerite , which he believed contained a new element. He named the element didymium, as it was an inseparable twin brother of lanthanum. In 1885 von Welsbach separated didymium into two new elemental components, neodymia and praseodymia, by repeated fractionation of ammonium didymium nitrate. While the free metal is in misch metal, long known and used as a pyrophoric alloy for light flints, the element was not isolated in relatively pure form until 1925. Neodymium is present in misch metal to the extent of about 18%. It is present in the minerals monazite and bastnasite, which are principal sources of rare-earth metals.
The metal has a bright silvery metallic luster, Neodymium is one of the more reactive rare-earth metals and quickly tarnishes in air, forming an oxide that spalls off and exposes metal to oxidation. The metal, therefore, should be kept under light mineral oil or sealed in a plastic material. Neodymium exists in two allotropic forms, with a transformation from a double hexagonal to a body-centered cubic structure taking place at 863°C.
Usuarios
Neodymium makes up about 18% of Misch metal, a material that is used to make flints for lighters. Neodymium is also a component of didymium glass, which is used to make certain types of welder's and glass blower's goggles. Neodymium is added to glass to remove the green color caused by iron contaminants. It can also be added to glass to create violet, red or gray colors. Some types of glass containing neodymium are used by astronomers to calibrate devices called spectrometers and other types are used to create artificial rubies for lasers. Some neodymium salts are used to color enamels and glazes.
Didymium, of which neodymium is a component, is used for coloring glass to make welders goggles. By itself, neodymium colors glass delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. Light transmitted through such glass shows unusually sharp absorption bands. The glass has been used in astronomical work to produce sharp bands by which spectral lines may be calibrated. Glass containing neodymium can be used as a laser material to produce coherent light. Neodymium salts are also used as a colorant for enamels.
Compounds
See more information at the Neodymium compound page.
Element Forms
CID
Name
Formula
SMILES
Molecular Weight
23934
neodymium
Nd
[Nd]
144.24
3788361
neodymium(3+)
Nd+3
[Nd+3]
144.24
114848
neodymium-147
Nd
[147Nd]
146.91611
25087164
neodymium-143
Nd
[143Nd]
142.90982
71586741
neodymium-142
Nd
[142Nd]
141.90773
177666
neodymium-149
Nd
[149Nd]
148.92015
177494
neodymium-141
Nd
[141Nd]
140.90962
177598
neodymium-146
Nd
[146Nd]
145.91312
177623
neodymium-138
Nd
[138Nd]
137.9120
25087165
neodymium-145
Nd
[145Nd]
144.91258
44152648
neodymium-148
Nd
[148Nd]
147.91690
176415
neodymium-136
Nd
[136Nd]
135.9150
176987
neodymium-139
Nd
[139Nd]
138.9120
177620
neodymium-151
Nd
[151Nd]
150.92384
131708399
neodymium-144
Nd
[144Nd]
143.91009
131708400
neodymium-150
Nd
[150Nd]
149.92090
Handling And Storage
Neodymium has a low-to-moderate acute toxic rating. As with other rare earths, neodymium should be handled with care.
Isotopes
Stable Isotope Count
5
Summary
Natural neodymium is a mixture of seven stable isotopes. Fourteen other radioactive isotopes are recognized.
Isotopes in Geochronology
143Nd is a radiogenic isotope produced by decay of 147Sm, with a half-life of 1.06×1011 years. Thus, the isotope-amount ratio n(143Nd)/n(144Nd) can be used for dating rocks on long time scales and as a chemical tracer in geochemistry (Fig. IUPAC.60.1) [427], [428]. The very small accumulation of 142Nd in billion-year-old metamorphosed rocks from Greenland [from the relatively short-lived (about 68×106 years) alpha decay of 146Sm] provided evidence that the crust of the Earth formed before the young planet was more than 100×106 years old. This is because only a short amount of time could have elapse to incorporate the 146Sm parent radionuclide into the ancient Greenland minerals before it decayed [429], [430].
Fig. IUPAC.60.1: Cross plot of n(¹⁴³Nd)/n(¹⁴⁴Nd) isotope-amount ratio and n(¹⁴⁷Sm)/n(¹⁴⁴Nd) amount ratio for two periods of scheelite (calcium tungstate; ore of tungsten) mineralization (metamorphism) (modified from [428]). ¹⁴³Nd is produced by decay of ¹⁴⁷Sm. Rock containing higher amounts of ¹⁴⁷Sm at time of mineralization will over time produce higher amounts of ¹⁴³Nd (e.g. sample stage 3 K1 shear zone and sample stage 4 K2). Alternatively, rocks containing lower amounts of ¹⁴⁷Sm at time of mineralization will over time produce lower amounts of ¹⁴³Nd (e.g. sample stage 3 K1 gneiss and sample Brl). Samples from an older mineralization event will have proportionally more ¹⁴³Nd because of the longer accumulation time for ¹⁴³Nd; thus, the line through the bluish-fluorescent scheelites with an age of (319 ± 34)×10⁶ a has a substantially higher slope than the line through the whitish-bluish-fluorescent scheelites with an age of (29 ± 17)×10⁶ a. These lines from which age of mineralization (crystallization) can be determined are called isochrons.
[427] M. T. McCullocha, M. R. Perfita. Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett.56, 167 (1981).
[428] R. Eichhorn, R. Höll, E. Jagoutz, U. Schärer. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta61, 5005 (1997).
[429] M. G. Jackson, S. R. Hart, A. A. P. Koppers, H. Staudigel, J. Konter, J. Blusztajn, M. Kurz, J. A. Russell. Nature448, 684 (2007).
[430] G. Caro, B. Bourdon, J. L. Birck, S. Moorbath. Nature423, 428 (2003).
Isotopes Used as a Source of Radioactive Isotope(s)
146Nd has been used in the production of 147Pm (with a half-life of 2.6 years), via the reaction 146Nd (n, γ) 147Nd, which is followed by a subsequent electron decay reaction, 147Nd→ 147Pm+β - reaction. 147Pm is a radioactive power-generation source [431].
[431] C. S. Lee, Y. M. Wang, W. L. Cheng, G. Ting. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem.130, 21 (1988).
7. IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements and Isotopes (IPTEI)
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