Neodymium Distribution between Cu-rich and Fe-rich Phases in Two Immiscible Liquids in Fe–Cu–C System

Abstract

Recovery of Nd from used products is a crucial problem to be solved for a stable supply of Nd resource. In the present work, the use of two immiscible liquids, i.e. a Cu-rich phase and an Fe-rich phase, in an Fe-Cu-C system was regarded as one of the solutions for this purpose and the distributions of Nd between two immiscible liquids in an Fe-Cu-C system were measured. We found Nd is distributed in the Cu-rich phase more than in the Fe-rich phase in an Fe-Cu-C system and Nd is more concentrated at low temperatures than at high temperatures. In addition, the thermodynamic parameters for Nd were obtained based on the experimental results.