The extraction and separation of heavy rare earths (REs) using newly synthesized α-aminophosphonic acid extractant 2-ethylhexyl-3-(2-ethylhexylamino)pentan-3-yl phosphonic acid (HEHAPP, H A ) in n-heptane were investigated from chloride medium. The extraction stoichiometries of lanthanum , gadolinium , yttrium and lutetium are determined to be RE A 3 by the slope analysis method. The favorable separation factors of adjacent heavy REs(Ⅲ), i.e. β Y/Ho , β Er/Y , β Tm/Er , β Yb/Tm and β Lu/Yb , are determined to be 1.87, 1.36, 3.21, 3.22 and 1.93, respectively, when extracted from a binary system at proper condition. The loading capacities of H A for Ho, Er, Yb and Lu increase in the order Ho < Er < Yb < Lu with the values being 0.201, 0.205, 0.216 and 0.229 mol/L, respectively. So H A would be a potential extractant for the separation of heavy REs(Ⅲ). Among inorganic acids such as H 2 SO 4 , HNO 3 and HCl, HCl is tested to be the most effective stripping agent.
Yaxing Han,Ji Chen,Yuefeng Deng,Tianchi Liu,Hailian Li,Deqian Li
The current separation technique of ion-adsorption high yttrium (Y) rare earth ore (high-yttrium ore) using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) and naphthenic acid (NA) has been confronted with low separation efficiency and high acid consumption. This is a consequence of the low selectivity and the difficulty of complete stripping of heavy rare earths (HREEs). Therefore, an innovative separation technique of high-yttrium ore was proposed. The leachate of high-yttrium ore was firstly divided into Erbium (Er) / Thulium (Tm) groups with P507-isooctanol followed by separating Y (III) from the high Y-enrichment of Er (III) group with sec -octylphenoxy acetic acid (CA12)-tri- n -butyl phosphate (TBP). The basic thermodynamics experiments and cascade extraction simulations were conducted to verify the feasibility of this technology. The results show that P507-15vol% isooctanol is superior to P507 in both stripping ability and separation selectivity of HREEs. The first cascade extraction for Er (III) / Tm (III) grouping with P507-15vol% isooctanol was simulated successfully, reducing acid consumption but obtaining high purity products. In theory, the second cascade extraction simulation designed for separating Y (III) with CA12-TBP could not only improve the separation ability between Y (III) and light rare earths (LREEs) but also shorten the extraction stages and reduce the production costs. All these results revealed that this two-step separation process probably provided a promising application prospect for separating high-yttrium ore.