Rare Earth Metals
During the last three decades, there has been an explosion in the applications of Rare Earth Metals and their alloys in several technology devices such as computer memory, DVDs, rechargeable batteries, autocatalytic converters, super magnets, mobile phones, LED lighting, superconductors, glass additives, fluorescent materials, phosphate binding agents, solar panels and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agents. These metals are being consumed this way for a variety of applications at an unprecedented rate. Since they are extremely important ingredients in all high-technology gadgets, these Rare Earth Metals are called “The Vitamins of Modern Industry”
For example, Neodymium is extensively applied in super magnets for disk drives, Cerium is critical ingredient in anticatalyst and all Rare Earth Metals are used in making the flat-panel TVs. Several compounds of Rare Earth Metals are in smart-batteries that power every electric vehicles and hybrid-electric vehicles. Because of their unique physical, chemical, magnetic, luminescent properties, these elements help to make many technological advantages such as performing at reduced energy consumption, greater efficiency, miniaturization, speed, durability and thermal stability. In recent years, their demand is particularly on rise in energy efficient gadgets (Rare Earth Metals technology) which are faster, lighter, smaller and more efficient. These technologies are even helping the analytical instruments to become smaller and more efficient and summarizes the extensive applications of Rare Earth Metals in the modern technological gadgets in different areas. Because of the emerging Rare Earth Metals technologies in a big way, the Rare Earth Metals application boom would continue in near future also.
The overview of Rare Earth Metals production by different countries and utilization for different applications in 2017. It is very interesting to see that these applications are dominated by their use in autocatalytic converters and industrial catalysts. Geochemists predicted that global Rare Earth Metals demand is slated to grow at annual rate of 5% by 2020 an in a Rare Earth Metals scarcity and supply risk for Europium, Dysprosium and Erbium in addition to several other metals in the near future. This estimation is based on their scores in Rare Earth Metals areas namely supply risk, environmental implications, and vulnerability to supply restrictions. Thus, the increasing global demand for these elements is currently generating lot of interest among exploration geochemists as well as technology developers especially because of their very important role in Rare Earth Metals applications such as hybrid cars, electric car batteries and wind turbines under the backdrop of climate change and global warming.
