European Scandium for a Lighter and Greener Future

ScandiumScandium is a soft silvery metal, with an atomic number of 21 it is the lightest of the transition metals. The melting pointMelting point is 1.541 °C, the boiling pointBoiling point is 2.836 °C and with a density of 2.985 g/cm3 is slightly heavier than AluminiumAluminium. ScandiumScandium is actually not rare—it is more abundant than precious metals and commercial metals like cobalt, lead and mercury. ScandiumScandium is primarily produced as a byproduct from the mining of other metals or minerals like BauxiteBauxite, Coal, Rare Earth Elements (REE), IronIron, Tungsten, Uranium, Zirconia or Titaniumdioxide. ScandiumScandium and scandiumScandium compounds have unique properties for many advanced technological applications. ScandiumScandium is considered as a Strategic metal by the EU and by the US government due to the current limited Western supply situation. ScandiumScandium is increasingly used in energy storage systems such as solid oxygen fuel cells (SOFC) and for green hydrogenHydrogen production in solid oxide electrolyser cells (SOEC). AlScN piezoelectric films for energy generation are important compounds for 5G applications. Today, the EU imports 100%, mainly from China. Therefore, a continuous supply of scandiumScandium at reasonable prices must be ensured in and for Europe, and the dependency on China must be reduced. Europe is leading in the development of green technologies and has sufficient scandiumScandium resources. This paper will briefly explain the status and potential of ScandiumScandium compound production in Europe, in particular providing an update on the ScaVanger project.