Comparison of Different Leaching Media and Their Effect on REEs Recovery from Spent Nd-Fe-B Magnets

Fupeng Liu, Antti Porvali, Petteri Halli, Benjamin P. Wilson, Mari Lundström

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recycling rare-earth elements (REEs) from Nd-Fe-B magnet waste is an important step towards building a sustainable REE supply chain. In this study, two different processes were systematically investigated and compared. In the leaching stage, the effect of increasing H2SO4 or HCl concentrations were studied and it was determined that, although both can successfully promote REEs, B, Fe and Co leaching, HCl solutions extracted a wider range of metals. After leaching, the oxalate and double-sulfate precipitation methods were utilized to separate REEs from either HCl or H2SO4 leachates. Results suggest that, although > 99% REEs precipitation rates could be achieved with oxalate, the purity of REE-containing products is significantly affected by impurities like Fe and Co. In contrast, REE double-sulfate precipitation resulted in a product purity of > 99%; however, high levels of Na2SO4 (8 times the stoichiometric amount) were needed to achieve > 98% of REE precipitation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)806-815
Number of pages10
JournalJOM: The Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
Volume72
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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