Projects
Separation of rare earths by non-aqueous solvent extraction KU Leuven
Solvent extraction is widely used for the separation of mixtures of rare earths on an industrial scale. However, these separation processes are not very efficient so that many extraction stages are required to produce pure rare earths. In this project, we develop a new approach to separation of rare earths: non-aqueous solvent extraction with two immiscible organic phases. Non-aqueous solvent extraction offers some advantages compared to ...
Research Platform for the Advanced Recycling and Reuse of Rare Earths (RARE³). KU Leuven
Recycling of rare earths from fluorescent lamps KU Leuven
Ionic liquids (ILs) are of high interest as alternative solvents in solvent extraction applications and metal processing. Their negligible vapor pressure and low flammability make them safer and more convenient to handle than volatile organic solvents. Furthermore, their structure can be modified and functionalized to incorporate metal extracting groups and to tune their physical properties. In this thesis we used smart IL design to provide ...
Ionic Liquid Technology for the Separation of Rare Earths KU Leuven
Ionic liquids possess some interesting properties for solvent extraction experiments such as a negligible volatility, a low flammability and high structure tuneability. Moreover, their ionic structure and metal complex solvation power is totally different from apolar aliphatic or aromatic solvents. Even though ionic liquids are considered as safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives for traditional organic diluents, they have one ...
Separation of rare earths by homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction with functionalized ionic liquids. KU Leuven
Extraction of rare earths with functionalised hydrophobic ionic liquids. KU Leuven
Separation of rare earths by ionic liquid technology KU Leuven
The first part of this PhD thesis shows how ionic liquids can be employed as a green alternative to replace the conventional organic phase in solvent extraction processes of rare-earth elements. In a first approach, the selective leaching of rare earths from NdFeB magnets and their solvent extraction from a nitrate media is presented. More specifically, neodymium and dysprosium were separated from cobalt by extracting them to the ionic liquid ...
Efficient design of continuous countercurrent solvent extraction processes for separation of rare earths (ELECTRA) KU Leuven
Solvent extraction is an important separation technique for purification of rare-earth elements that are essential for the permanent magnets used in motors of electric vehicles, wind turbines, .... However, the design of solvent extraction processes is a labour-intensive and time-consuming process, with many laboratory experiments. The objective of the ELECTRA project is to simplify the design of solvent extraction processes in the metallurgy ...
Mechanistic study of solvent extraction of rare earths with sterically hindered alkyl phosphonic acids. KU Leuven
The rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements (15 lanthanides, plus Sc and Y). Although REE minerals contain most of these elements simultaneously, high-tech and cleantech applications such as permanent magnets and lamp phosphors typically require only one specific, high-purity REE. To provide the individual REEs on an industrial scale, REE separation is performed by solvent extraction. Solvent ...