American companies have produced dysprosium oxide with a purity of 99.9%. What level is this at?
Cost is not mentioned for now. Dysprosium oxide (Dy₂O₃) with a purity of 99.9% can meet some industrial applications, but it is still insufficient for high-end applications such as military and defense. Chinese products have a purity of 99.999%, which is the 5N level, and there are also 6N and 7N levels.
The weekly production is two kilograms, totaling 15 kilograms. This is extremely low, indicating that it is just lab experimentation and no large-scale production line has been established yet. The indicators are too low to justify setting up a production line. The significance is that they are using American raw materials and developing their own production line, which can be considered as the start of R&D.
The purity of Lynas Company in Australia is also at this level, but they have recruited a Chinese team to carry out production. They started producing 25 kilograms in May, and it is said that they plan to produce one ton within the year. In the long term, their capacity for all heavy rare earths will reach 1,500 tons.
In 2024, China's production of dysprosium oxide was 2,642 tons, and exports were only 156.5 tons, accounting for about 6%, mainly to meet domestic demand. The main reason is that China has a significant lead in purity. The amount of dysprosium oxide, the U.S. and Australia can probably gather if they don't consider cost, and time can be planned.
Dysprosium oxide with a purity of 99.9% can be used as an additive for ordinary neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets to enhance coercivity, as a minor dopant in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), and as an activator for phosphors used in lighting and display devices.
Military-grade neodymium-iron-boron magnets (such as missiles, radar, and F-35 motors) require a purity of more than 99.99%, with extremely strict control over impurities. Precision optical components (such as laser crystals and magneto-optical storage materials) require a purity of 99.995%-99.999%, as impurities can significantly affect performance. Semiconductor and nuclear industries have very high requirements for rare earth impurities (such as Fe, Ca, Si), and 99.9% purity is usually not sufficient.
This is the situation. Impurities affect high-end performance. Dysprosium oxide is one of the most difficult types of heavy rare earths to produce, and it can represent the technological progress of foreign rare earths.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1847094570764425/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.