Avdibegović, D., Regadío, M. and Binnemans, K. (2018) Efficient separation of rare earths recovered by a supported ionic liquid from bauxite residue leachate. RSC Advances, 8 (22). pp. 11886-11893.
Abstract
Bauxite residue (BR) contains substantial concentrations of rare-earth elements (REEs), but their recovery is a challenge. Acidic BR leachates typically comprise much higher concentrations of base elements (g L−1) than those of the REEs (ppm). Thus, adsorbents that are highly selective for the REEs over the base elements are required for the separation. The novel supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) betainium sulfonyl(trifluoromethanesulfonylimide) poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) [Hbet-STFSI-PS-DVB] was evaluated for the uptake of REEs (Sc, Y, Nd, Dy) in the presence of base elements (Ca, Al, Fe) from BR leachates. Breakthrough curves from acidic nitrate and sulfate media were investigated, as both HNO3 and H2SO4 are commonly used for leaching of BR. The SILP exhibited a superior affinity for REEs in both media, except in the case of Sc(III) from the sulfate feed. The recovery rates of the trace amounts of REEs from the real nitrate feed were remarkably high (71.7–100%) via a simple chromatography separation, without requiring complexing agents or a pretreatment for the removal of interfering elements. The REEs were purified from the base elements and separated into three sub-groups (scandium, light REEs and heavy REEs) by an optimized elution profile with H3PO4 and HNO3 in a single chromatographic separation step.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. his article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2020 13:19 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2020 13:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/c7ra13402a |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:140460 |
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