Dysprosium: Made into a Light Source to Promote Plant Growth

Dysprosium, element 66 of the periodic table

Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty wrote in “On Ten Crimes of Qin” that “we should collect all the soldiers from the world, gather them in Xianyang, and sell them”. Here, ‘dysprosium‘ refers to the pointed end of an arrow. In 1842, after Mossander separated and discovered terbium and erbium in yttrium earth, many chemists determined through spectral analysis that there may be other elements in yttrium earth. Seven years later, French chemist Bouvard é rand successfully separated holmium earth, with some still being holmium, while the other part was ultimately identified as a new element, which is dysprosium.

Dysprosium based materials can be ordered into block magnets at specific temperatures, and this temperature is very close to the temperature at which manganese based materials produce this performance. A certain percentage of dysprosium will be added to Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. Only about 2%~3% can increase the Coercivity in permanent magnets, which is a necessary addition element in Nd-Fe-B magnets. Even some neodymium iron boron magnets use dysprosium to replace a portion of neodymium to improve the heat resistance of the magnets. With dysprosium neodymium iron boron magnets, they can have high corrosion resistance and be applied in high-performance electric vehicle drive motors.

Dysprosium and terbium are a good pair, and the terbium dysprosium iron alloy produced has significant magnetostriction and the highest room temperature magnetostriction coefficient among materials. Using some Paramagnetism dysprosium salt crystals, scientists have made a refrigerator with heat insulation and demagnetization.

The origin of magnetic recording technology can be traced back to the use of steel tape recorders in 1875. Nowadays, magneto-optical recording integrates optical and magnetic recording, with high storage density and repeated erasure function. Dysprosium has high recording speed and reading sensitivity.

The dysprosium lamp for lighting fixtures is prepared together with dysprosium and holmium. Dysprosium lamps are high intensity gas discharge lamps, unlike ordinary incandescent lamps that emit light through tungsten wires. While emitting light, they also generate heat. About 70% of the electrical energy is converted into thermal energy. The longer the use time, the higher the temperature, and the more easily the tungsten wires are burned. Dysprosium lamps emit light through the electrification of gas at low pressure, and most of the electrical energy can be converted into light energy, which is more energy-efficient, brighter, and has a longer lifespan. Under the same energy supply, they can create three times the brightness of incandescent lamps. Dysprosium lamp is a kind of Metal-halide lamp, which is filled with Dysprosium(III) iodide, Thallium(I) iodide, mercury, etc., and can emit its unique dense spectrum. Reflective sunlight dysprosium lamp has a reflective layer. It has high Radiant intensity intensity and low infrared radiation in the broad spectral area from blue violet light to orange red light. It is an ideal light source for agricultural experiments, crop cultivation, and plant growth acceleration. It is also called a biological effect lamp, which is suitable for various artificial climate boxes, artificial biological boxes, greenhouses, and other occasions. It can make plants grow better.

Dysprosium doped luminescent materials can be used as tricolor phosphors to produce phosphor activators.

Dysprosium has the ability to capture neutrons and has a large Neutron capture cross section, so it is used to measure the neutron spectrum or as a neutron absorber in the atomic energy industry.