Abstract
The importance of rare-earth elements (REEs) in the global economy is rapidly growing, since they are essential to many advanced technologies. Therefore, the development of more performant separation procedures for REEs has become necessary. In the present study, we used silica hybrid materials (SHMs), which were synthesized by an all-in-one approach that allows the direct incorporation of desired functional groups, as sorbent material. Promising results were obtained for the extraction capacities of diglycolamide-functionalized materials. Under the tested conditions, they showed high efficiency (Nd uptake capacity of about 25 mg per g of material) and high selectivity toward REEs from a simulated NdFeB magnet leachate. For these materials, Nd recovery after extraction was achieved with an efficiency of 80% by contacting the loaded material with distilled water at moderate pH (6.5).
Highlights
Rare-earth elements (REEs) play a crucial role in the functioning of current technology—e.g., electric motors, lighting, or information technology [1]
The procedure for preparing the silica hybrid materials starting from the organosilane sol-gel precursors was adapted from the procedure described in the literature [28,29]
Materials Figure S1) show characteristic peaks at 3130 cm−1 assigned to the C-H stretching mode of the triazole moiety, at 2920 cm−1 and 2850 cm−1, which are attributed to the CH2 asymmetric and symmetric stretching modes, at 1460 cm−1, which is assigned to the C = C stretching in the triazole moiety, at 1210 cm−1, which is assigned to the Si-CH2 - stretching mode, and at 1020–930 cm−1, which is attributed to the Si-OH stretching modes [31,32,33]
Summary
Rare-earth elements (REEs) play a crucial role in the functioning of current technology—e.g., electric motors, lighting, or information technology [1]. The mining process of REEs displays several challenges. The supply chain of REEs represents an economic and political issue due to the Chinese monopoly [2,3,4]. From an ecological point of view, REE mining bears the burden of large emissions, landscape and agricultural land destruction, and groundwater pollution [5,6]. With the surge of permanent magnet production, the REE demand was predicted to increase [1,2,7]. To meet the required quantities while limiting REE mining, a recycling-based circular economy would have many advantages [8]. If an application requires a combination of multiple REEs, the recycling process would recover these
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