Extraction of Rare Earths.

The rare earths are a group of 17 elements in the periodic system, including neodymium (Nd), europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy) and yttrium (Y). These elements are becoming more and more important, because of their essential role in permanent magnets, lamp phosphors, catalysts and rechargeable batteries. The rare earths occur in Nature as mixtures and these mixtures are difficult to separate due to the similar chemical properties of the rare earths. This project is about new approaches for the concentration and separation of rare-earth elements, and their transformation into metallic form, starting from rare-earth slags or recycled rare- earth concentrates. These processes can be described under the general name of extraction of rare earths.The problem of dispersion of the rare earths in oxide slags will be solved by concentrating the rare earths in rare-earth-rich phases formed by addition of fluorine or phosphorus compounds to molten slags. New separation methods will be developed. These include photochemical oxidation or reduction of rare earths, and separation of rare-earth ions in strong magnetic fields.

Keywords:Pyrometallurgy, Hydrometallurgy, Critical raw materials, Recycling, Rare earths, Rare earth elements, Lanthanides, Urban mining

Disciplines:Inorganic chemistry, Organic chemistry, Theoretical and computational chemistry, Other chemical sciences, Metallurgical engineering, Catalysis and reacting systems engineering, Chemical product design and formulation, General chemical and biochemical engineering, Process engineering, Separation and membrane technologies, Transport phenomena, Other (bio)chemical engineering