Preparation of enriched cerium oxide from bastnasite with hydrochloric acid by two-step leaching

Abstract

Roasted with sodium carbonate, bastnasite (Ln(Ce)CO3F) was converted to calcine containing rare earth oxides (REO), among them cerium, which existed mainly as CeO2. The calcine was first leached with diluted hydrochloric acid, which resulted in a sludge with the enriched cerium (IV) dioxide. The sludge was further leached with a concentrated hydrochloric acid, adding hydrogen peroxide as a reducing agent; in this manner, the enriched cerium tri-chloride (CeCl3) was prepared. The optimal technological parameters are suggested as follows: first, the hydrochloric acid concentration, the leaching temperature, the ratio of solid to liquid, and the leaching time are 1 mol/L, 60°C, 1:20, and 90 minutes, respectively; second, the hydrochloric acid concentration, the dosage of hydrogen peroxide in every 5 g of the sludge, the ratio of solid to liquid, the leaching temperature, and the leaching time are 6 mol/L, 6 mL, 1:20, 50°C, and 90 minutes, respectively. As a result, the cerium-enriched rare earth (RE) solution, containing over 95 pct cerium oxide, is obtained, which is in turn available for use in preparing a kind of polishing powder containing high cerium. The total recovery of cerium was 91 pct (85.3 pct, in the second step).