2 December 2025
Dysprosium: the thermal anchor for high-temperature permanent magnets
Key insights from this briefing
What does dysprosium do in neodymium permanent magnets?
Dysprosium increases coercivity, which helps NdFeB magnets resist demagnetisation as temperature rises. The briefing describes it as a thermal anchor that allows magnets in EV motors and wind turbines to keep operating at temperatures that would weaken standard neodymium magnets.
Why can dysprosium become a supply-chain bottleneck?
Dysprosium is a heavy rare earth that is difficult to separate and is produced from a limited range of deposits. Its specialised role in high-temperature permanent magnets has few straightforward substitutes, so constrained supply can have an outsized effect on downstream motor and generator production.
Excerpt from this briefing's Industry Insight
Dysprosium is the thermal insurance inside many high-performance permanent magnets. Standard NdFeB magnets can lose coercivity as temperatures rise, so small additions of dysprosium are used to resist demagnetisation in electric motors, wind turbines and other demanding systems. Dysprosium is a heavy rare earth with difficult separation chemistry and limited supply sources, which makes substitution challenging. Its strategic value comes from preserving magnet performance under the heat and reverse fields encountered in real-world operation.
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