Dysprosium

Dysprosium (Dy) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Research intensity has climbed steadily over the last decade, reaching about 69% of the element's all-time peak, a level last seen in 1971.

Research intensity ran from about 46% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 69% in 2026 — a steady climb, and the all-time peak (1971) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, dysprosium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 829 in 2016 to about 1,815 in 2025 (2.19x). That matches the growth of the literature as a whole over the same years: the general tide of scientific output, not a surge specific to the element.

The core of dysprosium research remains anchored in Dysprosium Single-Molecule Magnets and Magnetic Anisotropy. This community focuses on synthesizing mononuclear and dinuclear dysprosium complexes to study slow magnetic relaxation and high anisotropy barriers, with distinctive work on dinuclear dysprosium and molecule magnets. Dysprosium is a minor presence in this much larger community, appearing in about 5% of its papers. However, it accounts for about 25% of dysprosium’s recent research, a share that has declined from 34% in the previous period. The field’s weight is carried by a 2018 Science paper on magnetic hysteresis in a dysprosium metallocene, cited over 1,900 times, and a 2025 Nature study on soft magnetic hysteresis in a dysprosium amide–alkene complex, cited about 87 times.

A second significant area is Dysprosium Recovery and Separation from Neodymium Magnets. These papers focus on extracting dysprosium from neodymium-iron-boron waste and separating it from neodymium using selective adsorption and liquid membranes. Dysprosium is a minor presence here as well, about 2% of the community’s papers, but it represents about 17% of dysprosium’s recent research, a steady share compared to 13% previously. Key work includes the 2023 Critical Materials Strategy, cited over 480 times, and a 2023 Nature paper on enhanced rare-earth separation with a metal-sensitive lanmodulin dimer, cited over 200 times.

A smaller, steady community involves Lanthanide Complexes for Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Optical Sensing. This work explores dysprosium complexes for white light emission and optical sensing. Dysprosium is a minor presence (about 1% of the community), accounting for about 1% of dysprosium’s recent research. Notable papers include a 2024 study on ternary dysprosium complexes for white light emission, cited about 26 times.

Overall, the composition of dysprosium research has shifted slightly away from single-molecule magnets and toward other areas, with the "Other research communities" band rising to about 57% of the element's recent work. The single most-cited paper of the window, the 2018 Science article on dysprosium metallocene single-molecule magnets, remains the defining reference for the field.

For a deeper look at dysprosium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.