Rare-earth separation based on the differences of ionic magnetic moment via quasi-liquid strategy

Abstract

The separation of rare earth elements is particularly difficult due to their similar physicochemical properties. Based on the tiny differences of ionic radius, solvent extraction has been developed as the “mass method” in industry with hundreds of stages, extremely intensive chemical consumption and large capital investments. The differences of the ionic magnetic moment among rare earths are greater than that of ionic radius. Herein, a novel method based on the large ionic magnetic moment differences of rare earth elements was proposed to promote the separation efficiency. Rare earths were firstly dissolved in the ionic liquid, then the ordering degree of them was improved with the Z-bond effect, and finally the magnetic moment differences between paramagnetic and diamagnetic rare earths in quasi-liquid system were enhanced. Taking the separation of Er/Y, Ho/Y and Er/Ho as examples, the results showed that Er(III) and Ho(III) containing ionic liquids had obvious magnetic response, while ionic liquids containing Y(III) had no response. The separation factors of Er/Y and Ho/Y were achieved at 9.0 and 28.82, respectively. Magnetic separation via quasi-liquid system strategy provides a possibility of the novel, green, and efficient method for rare earth separation.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

rare earth element / different magnetic moment / magnetic separation / ionic liquid

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22008244), Rare Earth Industry Guidance Fund Project (Grant No. IAGM2020DB03), Self-Deployed Projects of Ganjiang Innovation Academy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. E055A002), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. ZDRW-CN-2021-3-2) and Special Research Assistant Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (JXUST-XTCX-2022-01). The authors are grateful for the assistance from Professor Ling Wang of Analysis and Test Centre, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences in MPMS-3 (Magnetic Property Measurement System).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2189-4 and is accessible for authorized users.

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