Solvent Extraction of Rare-Earth Elements with Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 4690

Special Issue Editors

Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department, University of Santiago de Chile, Santiago 71783-5, Chile
Interests: liquid–liquid extractions of metal ions; separation technologies; ionic liquids; deep eutectic solvents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department, University of Santiago de Chile, Santiago 71783-5, Chile
Interests: membrane separations; ionic liquids; deep eutectic solvents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department, University of Santiago de Chile, Santiago 71783-5, Chile
Interests: membrane technologies; wastewater treatment; life cycle analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lanthanides or so-called rare earth elements (REEs) have attracted much attention in the scientific community due to their increasing number of technological applications, especially those related to the low carbon economy, such as hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and wind turbines. Recovery from leached minerals and, more recently, from recycled technological wastes is carried out through solvent extraction (SX), where the purification of REEs is not straightforward and uses toxic solvents. In this sense, ionic liquids (ILs) are a novel and outstanding class of solvents which have been proposed for SX of metal ions due to their excellent properties, such as negligible vapor pressure, non-flammability, and wide solvating power, but also an increased performance (distribution ratios and selectivity) over toxic solvents, opening many opportunities for these solvents to be applied in the REE purification industry. However, recently, deep eutectic solvents (DES) have gained much attention due to their ability to keep the same green characteristics as ILs but with simpler, cheaper, and less toxic synthesis.

This Special Issue is dedicated to collecting the most recent achievements on SX of REEs with ILs or DES, while papers on processes such as leaching of REEs containing mineral (or electronic waste) with these solvents, electrodeposition of lanthanides after SX or other processes associated with the recovery of metal ions using these solvents, such as supported liquid membranes (SLM), perstraction, structurally modified membranes, and solvent impregnated resins (SIR), are also welcome.

Dr. Esteban Quijada-Maldonado
Prof. Dr. Julio Romero
Dr. Ricardo Abejón
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • recovery of electronic wastes containing REEs
  • leaching of REEs containing minerals with ILs or DES
  • solvent extractions of REEs
  • selective separations of REEs
  • ionic liquids
  • deep eutectic solvents
  • extraction stoichiometry
  • ILs and/or des electrolytes
  • supported liquid membranes
  • structurally modified membranes
  • perstraction using ILs or DES
  • solvent impregnated resins

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3749 KiB  
Article
Extraction of Lanthanides(III) from Aqueous Nitric Acid Solutions with Tetra(n-octyl)diglycolamide into Methyltrioctylammonium Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonul)imide Ionic Liquid and Its Mixtures with Molecular Organic Diluents
by Alexander N. Turanov, Vasilii K. Karandashev and Vladimir E. Baulin
Minerals 2023, 13(6), 736; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13060736 - 29 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 882
Abstract
The extraction of lanthanides(III) from aqueous nitric acid solutions with tetra(n-octyl)diglycolamide into methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonul)imide ([N1888][Tf2N]) ionic liquid and its mixtures with molecular organic diluents is investigated in this study. This study also investigates the effect of HNO [...] Read more.
The extraction of lanthanides(III) from aqueous nitric acid solutions with tetra(n-octyl)diglycolamide into methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonul)imide ([N1888][Tf2N]) ionic liquid and its mixtures with molecular organic diluents is investigated in this study. This study also investigates the effect of HNO3 concentration in the aqueous phase on the extraction of Ln(III) ions. Subsequently, the stoichiometry of the extracted complexes is determined, and the mechanism of Ln(III) extraction in a system with [N1888][Tf2N] is discussed. It is shown that the intragroup selectivity of the extraction of Ln(III) ions is significantly higher when using [N1888][Tf2N] than when using the imidazolium-based ionic liquid [C4mim][Tf2N]. Full article
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24 pages, 3191 KiB  
Article
Simulation of Solvent Extraction Circuits for the Separation of Rare Earth Elements
by Keven Turgeon, Jean-François Boulanger and Claude Bazin
Minerals 2023, 13(6), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13060714 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2181
Abstract
The separation of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) is an important step in the valorization of REE ore and aims at producing individual rare earth compounds for the market. The separation is carried out industrially by solvent extraction (SX) using interconnected circuits consisting of [...] Read more.
The separation of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) is an important step in the valorization of REE ore and aims at producing individual rare earth compounds for the market. The separation is carried out industrially by solvent extraction (SX) using interconnected circuits consisting of cascades of mixer-settlers. The design of a REE separation circuit implies the selection of the operating conditions and of the number of mixer-settlers required to achieve a target degree of purity for the separated elements. This design work is either carried out by piloting a circuit or using a mathematical simulation. Independent of the method, the world expertise in this area is limited. This paper describes a simulation method requiring a minimum of calibration effort, which can be used to design a complete REE separation plant. The simulation enables assessment of the effect of the number of mixer-settlers per extraction, the scrubbing and stripping stage, as well as the pH of the aqueous solution and organic-phase contents of free and loaded extractant on the purity of the separated REEs. The simulation tool presented here has been developed from a fundamental analysis of the chemical reactions involved in the solvent extraction process. Unlike most of the simulation methods documented in the literature, the method requires no empirical calibration. The proposed method is validated using data from laboratory batch tests and with published data from continuous pilot and industrial REE separation circuits. The application of the simulation tool is illustrated with the planning of the test conditions for a forthcoming pilot test work and with the simulation of a 9-REE product SX separation plant. Full article
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Review

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14 pages, 426 KiB  
Review
Recent Work on the Recovery of Rare Earths Using Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents
by Francisco Jose Alguacil and Jose Ignacio Robla
Minerals 2023, 13(10), 1288; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13101288 - 30 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1020
Abstract
With the development of smart technologies, the use of rare-earth elements (REEs) has been widespread; thus, their importance as valuable and strategic metals has been boosted to levels never known before. Due to their scarcity in the Earth’s crust, the recovery of these [...] Read more.
With the development of smart technologies, the use of rare-earth elements (REEs) has been widespread; thus, their importance as valuable and strategic metals has been boosted to levels never known before. Due to their scarcity in the Earth’s crust, the recovery of these elements from secondary resources has also witnessed further developments. Traditional pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing techniques, though widely used in the recovery of these REEs, have some environmental drawbacks; thus, new recovery approaches are under development. Here, Solvometallurgy has emerged as an environmentally friendly technology, and ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents have turned out to be first-line chemicals to be used in the different unit operations employed in solvometallurgical processing, i.e., leaching, liquid–liquid extraction, ion exchange (adsorption), precipitation, and electrolysis. This manuscript reviews the most recent literature (2002–June 2023) concerning the use of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents in the recovery of REEs from various sources. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1.Title: Rare Earths Recovery using Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents
   Authorship: Francisco Jose Alguacil and Jose Ignacio Robla
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