Neodymium | नियोडिमियम
Why in News? | चर्चा में क्यों?
Neodymium came into focus because of India's efforts to expand domestic production and strengthen supply chains for rare-earth materials used in electric vehicles, renewable-energy technologies, electronics and strategic sectors.
Electric vehicles, renewable-energy technologies, electronics और strategic sectors में उपयोग होने वाले rare-earth materials की domestic production और supply chain मजबूत करने के भारत के प्रयासों के कारण Neodymium चर्चा में रहा।
What is Neodymium? | Neodymium क्या है?
Neodymium is a chemical element with symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a silvery rare-earth metal belonging to the lanthanide series.
Neodymium एक chemical element है जिसका symbol Nd और atomic number 60 है। यह lanthanide series से संबंधित silvery rare-earth metal है।
Rare Earth Element | दुर्लभ मृदा तत्व
Despite the name 'rare earth', neodymium is not extraordinarily rare in the Earth's crust. The challenge lies in economically concentrated deposits and the complex separation and refining processes required to produce high-purity rare-earth materials.
'Rare earth' नाम के बावजूद neodymium पृथ्वी की crust में अत्यंत दुर्लभ नहीं है। मुख्य चुनौती economically concentrated deposits और high-purity rare-earth materials प्राप्त करने की complex separation तथा refining process है।
Sources | स्रोत
Neodymium occurs in rare-earth minerals such as monazite and bastnäsite. Deposits and production are not restricted to Brazil and China; rare-earth resources occur in countries including China, India, Australia, Brazil and the United States.
Neodymium monazite और bastnäsite जैसे rare-earth minerals में पाया जाता है। इसके deposits केवल Brazil और China तक सीमित नहीं हैं; China, India, Australia, Brazil और United States सहित अनेक देशों में rare-earth resources पाए जाते हैं।
NdFeB Magnets | NdFeB चुंबक
Neodymium combined with iron and boron forms neodymium-iron-boron or NdFeB permanent magnets. These are among the strongest commercially available permanent magnets.
Neodymium को iron और boron के साथ मिलाकर neodymium-iron-boron अर्थात NdFeB permanent magnets बनाए जाते हैं। ये commercially available सबसे शक्तिशाली permanent magnets में शामिल हैं।
Major Applications | प्रमुख उपयोग
- Electric-vehicle motors / electric vehicle motors
- Wind turbines / wind turbines
- Consumer electronics / consumer electronics
- Speakers and headphones / speakers और headphones
- Industrial motors / industrial motors
- Robotics / robotics
- Strategic and defence systems / strategic और defence systems
- Specialised lasers and glass / specialised lasers और glass
Clean-Energy Importance | स्वच्छ ऊर्जा में महत्व
High-performance permanent magnets are critical components of many electric motors and wind-power systems. Consequently, neodymium supply chains have strategic importance for the global clean-energy transition.
High-performance permanent magnets अनेक electric motors और wind-power systems के critical components हैं। इसलिए global clean-energy transition में neodymium supply chains का strategic importance है।
Important Dates | महत्वपूर्ण तिथियाँ
- 1885: Carl Auer von Welsbach separated neodymium and praseodymium from the material then called didymium. / Carl Auer von Welsbach ने neodymium और praseodymium को didymium से अलग किया।
- 1925: Relatively pure neodymium metal was first produced. / अपेक्षाकृत pure neodymium metal पहली बार तैयार किया गया।
- 1983: High-strength neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets were developed. / शक्तिशाली NdFeB permanent magnets विकसित हुए।
- FY 2026-27: India has targeted substantial expansion of domestic neodymium-related production capacity. / भारत ने domestic neodymium-related production capacity में महत्वपूर्ण वृद्धि का लक्ष्य रखा है।
UPSC Quick Facts | त्वरित तथ्य
- Symbol: Nd
- Atomic number: 60
- Group: Lanthanides
- Important ores: Monazite and bastnäsite
- Key technology: NdFeB permanent magnets