Discovery date : 1886
Discovered by: Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek 'dysprositos', meaning hard to get.
Allotropes :
~>DYSPROSIUM is a chemical element with symbol Dy and atomic number 66. It is a rare earth element with a metallic silver luster. Dysprosium is never found in nature as a free element, though it is found in various minerals, such as xenotime.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | Lanthanides | Melting point | 1412°C, 2574°F, 1685 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 2567°C, 4653°F, 2840 K |
| Block | f | Density (g cm−3) | 8.55 |
| Atomic number | 66 | Relative atomic mass | 162.500 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 164Dy |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f106s2 | CAS number | 7429-91-6 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22355 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Dysprosium was discovered in 1886 by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in Paris. Its discovery came as a result of research into yttrium oxide, first made in 1794, and from which other rare earths (aka lanthanoids) were subsequently to be extracted, namely erbium in 1843, then holmium in 1878, and finally dysprosium. De Boisbaudran’s method had involved endless precipitations carried out on the marble slab of his fireplace at home.
Pure samples of dysprosium were not available until Frank Spedding and co-workers at Iowa State University developed the technique of ion-exchange chromatography around 1950. From then on it was possible to separate the rare earth elements in a reliable and efficient manner, although that method of separation has now been superseded by liquid-liquid exchange technology.