Extraction of Rare Earth Metals by Solid-Phase Extractants from Phosphoric Acid Solution

Abstract

Nowadays, solving the problem of rational, integrated use of the mined raw materials, the transition to waste-free technologies for its processing is a crucial task. The sulfuric acid technology used for the processing of apatite concentrates on a large industrial scale does not provide the associated extraction of accompanying valuable components—rare earth metals (REM). During apatite concentrate processing, rare-earth metals are affected by the technology-related dispersion, being distributed between the insoluble leaching residue and phosphoric acid solution sent to the production of fertilizers. The necessity of a cost-effective method development for the extraction of rare earth metals is quite obvious already in connection with the indicated significance of the problem. Phosphoric acid solutions that simulate the composition of industrial phosphoric acid solutions of the following composition 4.5 mol/L H3PO4, 0.19 mol/L H2SO4 and 0.10–0.12% REM were selected as the object of research. The extraction of rare earth metals was carried out using polymers containing a fixed layer of an extractant—di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid (D2EHPA). Fixed layer was obtained by impregnation-saturation (solvent-impregnated resin (SIR)) or by the introduction of an extractant at the stage of polymer matrix synthesis (extractant-resin extraction (ERE)). The work determined the thermodynamic and technological characteristics of the solid-phase extraction of rare earth elements from phosphoric acid solutions with polymers impregnated with D2EHPA and containing a rigidly fixed extractant in a styrene-divinylbenzene resin matrix. The possibility of effective multiple use of polymeric resins containing D2EHPA, regenerated with a solution of 1 mol/L sodium citrate, was revealed.