Wednesday May 23, 2012

13:30 - 13:50	Registration at the "Aula van de Tweede Hoofdwet" - Coffee
13:50 - 14:00	Preface
	Prof. Patrick Wollants (chairman MTM)
14:00 - 15:00	Rare earths: properties and applications
	Prof. Jean-Claude Bünzli (WCU professor, Korea University, South Korea and EPFL Switzerland)
15:00 - 15:30	Coffee
15:30 - 16:30	The physical metallurgy of the rare earth metals.
	Prof. Karl Gschneidner (Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, USA)
16:30 - 17:30	Production and recycling of rare earth metals, alloys and compounds.
	Mr. Jack Lifton (TMR, Illinois/Michigan, USA)
17:30 - 19:00	Reception

You are kindly invited to the Res Metallica symposium "The rare earth elements" on Wednesday May 23, 2012 at 13:30 in "Aula van de Tweede Hoofdwet", Thermo-technisch Instituut, Kasteelpark Arenberg 41, 3001 Heverlee. The workshop is organized within the framework agreement between Bekaert, ArcelorMittal Gent/OCAS and Umicore and the department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering of the KU Leuven.

World demand for rare earth elements has been growing faster then the economy, leading to the rare earth crisis and the recent dramatic increase in price of the REE's. Many emerging technologies, particularly "green" technologies use rare earth elements. For example, neodymium and several other REE make up around 30% of the magnets in large wind turbines - weighing up to two tones. Hybrid and electrical vehicles are similarly dependent on REE's containing approximately 20 kg of REE's per car. Plasma screens use europium and terbium, cerium is used in self-cleaning ovens and even the alloys used in jet engines are made more stable with use of rare earth elements. There are constant warnings about the risk of exhausting supply of rare earth, including the impact on our way of live. In this Res Metallica, we will examine the properties of rare earths, their applications, the sources of rare earth elements and their availability and the research driving their use in emerging technologies.

The rare earth metals will be discussed by three experts in the field.
First, in “Rare earths: properties and applications” Prof. Jean-Claude Bünzli will be our guide on a journey through the history and properties of the rare earths, followed by a description of their present main industrial and scientific applications and of their potential uses in new fields such as solar energy conversion and photo catalysis for water splitting.
Next, in the “physical metallurgy of the rare earth metals”, Prof. Gschneidner will introduce us to the physical metallurgy of the rare earth elements. In addition to applications, he will discuss the important minerals, ores, the separation chemistry, metal preparation, the properties of metals, oxides, other inorganic and metallic compounds, phosphors, magnetic properties and toxicity.
Thirdly, in “Production and recycling of rare earth metals, alloys and compounds”, Mr. Jack Lifton will discuss the application of contemporary chemical, metallurgical and engineering process technologies to the limitations and future directions of the commercial production and recycling of rare earth metals, alloys, and compounds.

There is no registration fee. Please register on line before May 14, 2012 at www.mtm.kuleuven.be/ResMetallica_2012