The two most promising applications for scandium are in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and scandium-aluminum alloys.
Scandium is used extensively in SOFCs. Through continuous heat-producing internal reactions, these fuel cells can produce energy very cheaply and efficiently. SOFCs can be powered by cheap natural gas, and the total electricity generated by these cells costs only cents per kilowatt hour.
Meanwhile, scandium-aluminum alloys show great promise in a variety of applications. This alloy is light and strong, and it can be used in airplanes and other high-performance applications. Scandium-aluminum alloys can also be used in 3D printing, which produces CAD models made entirely of metal.
Scandium has a variety of other applications due to its lightness and strength. These are some examples:
Ceramics: By combining about 20% scandium carbide and titanium carbide, a very hard mixed carbide can be produced. To put this in context, the material is only slightly softer than diamonds.
Electronics: Scandium is an important constituent of the laser material gadolinium scandium gallium garnet (GSGG). GSGG is said to be three times more effective than a similar material made of yttrium and aluminum. Scandium can also be used in computer switches. To make these switches work, undulating light passes through garnet and microwave equipment.
Lighting: The critical metal can also be used to make high-intensity lights that look like natural light. Scandium has a broad emission spectrum that is similar to sunlight and is used effectively for camera lighting as well as movie and television studio lights.
Phosphorus and displays: Scandium compounds can act as a host for phosphorous, which is frequently the activator ion in TV and computer monitors, because scandium can activate red luminous material, which is useful in TV displays. However, due to the current high cost of scandium, this application is not widely used.
Finally, scandium is very similar to yttrium in both composition and application. Given the likelihood that the world will face a yttrium shortage, scandium may find applications as a yttrium substitute in energy-efficient lighting systems and chemical refining technologies. In fact, scandium is more effective than yttrium in some cases. It is a better electrical conductor and is already known to perform well in high-performance lighting. Scandium is currently about 100 times the price of yttrium, but when the comparative benefits of scandium are considered, the cost disadvantage for the critical metal may be minimized.
