Comparison of the Preparation Process of Rare Earth Oxides from the Water Leaching Solution of Waste Nd-Fe-B Magnets’ Sulfate Roasting Products

Abstract

The new process developed here consisting of sulfurization roasting transformation and water immersion can effectively realize the separation of rare earth elements (REEs) and impurities from spent Nd-Fe-B magnets. For the industrial application of the new process, it is critical to determine how to economically and efficiently prepare rare earth oxide (RExOy) products with higher purity from the obtained water leaching solution. Therefore, according to rare earth sulfate (RE2(SO4)3) solution characteristics, the oxalic acid precipitation–calcination method, sodium carbonate precipitation–calcination method, and double sulfates precipitation–alkali conversion–calcination method were optimized and compared. The results show that the recovery efficiency of REE recovery via the oxalic acid precipitation–calcination method is 99.44%, and the purity of RExOy is 99.83% under optimal technological conditions. However, the cost of oxalic acid precipitation is higher. The process consisting of the double sulfates precipitation–alkali conversion–calcination method is relatively complicated, the recovery efficiency of REEs is 97.95%, and the purity of the RExOy is 98.04%. The recovery efficiency of the REEs and the purity of the RExOy obtained from the sodium carbonate precipitation–calcination method are 99.12% and 98.33%, respectively. Moreover, the recycling cost of sodium carbonate precipitation is the lowest among the three processes for preparing RExOy, so it has industrial application potential. The obtained results for REE recovery from spent Nd-Fe-B magnets in this research can provide theoretical guidance for the innovation of the recycling process for REEs as secondary resources.