Ion Flotation of Ytterbium Water-Salt Systems—An Innovative Aspect of the Modern Industry

Abstract

Considering the ever-increasing role of rare-earth elements (REE) in the modern hi-tech field, their effective use has tremendous significance, although the production process is inevitably linked to the large volumes of industrial ammonia effluents and heavy metal wastes. In the process of metallurgical separation of metals, the emission of large volumes of noxious gases and radioactive substances is inevitable. Lean technogenic raw material processing is sensible under the condition of the development of non-waste technology. The lack of competent regulations governing the disposal of waste containing REE has an impact on adjacent territories, accumulating in water bodies and, as a result, in the human body. Such an impact cannot pass without a trace, however, the ambiguity of opinions in the scientific community regarding the toxic effects of REE on living organisms determines the relevance of a more detailed study of this issue. The study of ytterbium ions removal from aqueous standard test solutions by the adsorptive bubble method—ion flotation—was conducted. The experiments showed that by using the ion flotation method, the maximum removal of ytterbium (III) was achieved at pH = 8.30. It was shown that ytterbium (+3) distribution coefficients as a function of aqueous phase pH value in the process of ion flotation with sodium dodecyl sulphate were derived. The comparison of values of removal pH with those of hydrate formation pH allowed to conclude that ytterbium floate as basic dihydroxoytterbium dodecyl sulphate Yb(OH)2(C12H25OSO3).