Rare earth separations by selective borate crystallization

Lanthanides possess similar chemical properties rendering their separation from one another a challenge of fundamental chemical and global importance given their incorporation into many advanced technologies. New separation strategies combining green chemistry with low cost and high efficiency remai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2017-03, Vol.8 (1), p.14438-14438, Article 14438
Main Authors: Yin, Xuemiao, Wang, Yaxing, Bai, Xiaojing, Wang, Yumin, Chen, Lanhua, Xiao, Chengliang, Diwu, Juan, Du, Shiyu, Chai, Zhifang, Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E., Wang, Shuao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
119/118
639/638/224/685
639/638/263/915
639/638/911
Borates - chemistry
Chemistry
Crystallization
Green Chemistry Technology - methods
Humanities and Social Sciences
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Kinetics
Lanthanoid Series Elements - isolation & purification
Ligands
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Molecular Structure
multidisciplinary
Polymerization
Resins
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Solvent extraction processes
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Summary:Lanthanides possess similar chemical properties rendering their separation from one another a challenge of fundamental chemical and global importance given their incorporation into many advanced technologies. New separation strategies combining green chemistry with low cost and high efficiency remain highly desirable. We demonstrate that the subtle bonding differences among trivalent lanthanides can be amplified during the crystallization of borates, providing chemical recognition of specific lanthanides that originates from Ln 3+ coordination alterations, borate polymerization diversity and soft ligand coordination selectivity. Six distinct phases are obtained under identical reaction conditions across lanthanide series, further leading to an efficient and cost-effective separation strategy via selective crystallization. As proof of concept, Nd/Sm and Nd/Dy are used as binary models to demonstrate solid/aqueous and solid/solid separation processes. Controlling the reaction kinetics gives rise to enhanced separation efficiency of Nd/Sm system and a one-step quantitative separation of Nd/Dy with the aid of selective density-based flotation. Trivalent lanthanides possess similar chemical properties, making their separation from one another challenging. Here, Wang and colleagues demonstrate that their subtle chemical differences can be greatly amplified during borate crystallization, leading to a low cost and highly efficient separation strategy.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms14438