Rare earth elements from waste

Bing Deng; Xin Wang; Duy Xuan Luong; Robert A. Carter; Zhe Wang; Mason B. Tomson; James M. Tour

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abm3132

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Rare earth elements from waste

Bing Deng, Xin Wang, Duy Xuan Luong, Robert A. Carter, Zhe Wang, Mason B. Tomson and James M. Tour

Science advances, Vol.8(6), abm3132

02/11/2022

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm3132

PMCID: PMC8827657

PMID: 35138886

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Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical materials in electronics and clean technologies. With the diminishing of easily accessible minerals for mining, the REE recovery from waste is an alternative toward a circular economy. Present methods for REE recovery suffer from lengthy purifications, low extractability, and high wastewater streams. Here, we report an ultrafast electrothermal process (~3000°C, ~1 s) based on flash Joule heating (FJH) for activating wastes to improve REE extractability. FJH thermally degrades or reduces the hard-to-dissolve REE species to components with high thermodynamic solubility, leading to ~2× increase in leachability and high recovery yields using diluted acid (e.g., 0.1 M HCl). The activation strategy is feasible for various wastes including coal fly ash, bauxite residue, and electronic waste. The rapid FJH process is energy-efficient with a low electrical energy consumption of 600 kWh ton −1 . The potential for this route to be rapidly scaled is outlined. The ultrafast flash Joule heating process greatly increases the recovery yield of rare earth elements from industrial wastes.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Rare earth elements from waste
Creators: Bing Deng - Rice University
Xin Wang - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
Duy Xuan Luong - Rice University
Robert A. Carter - Rice University
Zhe Wang - University of Iowa, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Mason B. Tomson - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
James M. Tour - Rice University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Science advances, Vol.8(6), abm3132
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm3132
PMID: 35138886
PMCID: PMC8827657
NLM abbreviation: Sci Adv
ISSN: 2375-2548
eISSN: 2375-2548
Language: English
Date published: 02/11/2022
Academic Unit: Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984696147202771

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