The catalytic system formed from polymer-supported neodymium complexes shows high catalytic activity and stereospecificity for butadiene polymerization.
Rare earth metals, such as metallic neodymium and metallic didymium (metallic praseodymium-neodymium), are used for rare earth magnets, mainly neodymium-iron-boron magnet.
Neodymium is a bright, silvery rare-earth metal element, found in monazite and bastnaesite and used for coloring glass and for doping some glass lasers.
To create a millimeter-scale robot capable of feats of flexibility, the researchers embedded magnetic particles of the element neodymium in pliable material.
The researchers then used a pair of powerful magnets to flip the polarity of the neodymium particles in different sections of the robot and UV light to lock them into place.
Like lead or mercury, neodymium is a toxic heavy metal that would need to be removed from inside the body if the bots were being used to assist a surgery or deliver drugs.