Separation of Rare-earth Elements by Electrolysis at a Mercury Cathode

Kolesov, G.M.; Pankratova, Lidia N

doi:10.1070/rc1968v037n09abeh001694

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…1 However, through alloy formation, the chlor-alkali industry has shown that reactive metals such as sodium can be reduced to the metallic state in aqueous media. 2,3 Hence, the use of amalgam formation (employing mercury) for the processing of REEs was prevalent during the 1940-60 s. [4][5][6][7][8] Previously, mercury (Hg) has been employed as electrode material for REE alloy formation, offering a high hydrogen evolution overpotential and an increase in the cathodic potential operating range. 6,9 However, the toxicity of Hg makes its handling and disposal hazardous, expensive, and highly regulated.…”

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Electrochemistry of Praseodymium in Aqueous Solution Using a Liquid Gallium Cathode

Engmann¹,

Diaz²,

Lister³

et al. 2022

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The electrochemistry of liquid Ga electrodes in aqueous media was examined in the presence of praseodymium acetate (PrOAc) as an alternate path for low temperature reduction of rare earth elements (REE). This study investigated the aqueous electrochemistry of Ga with and without REEs (Pr). Cyclic voltammetry experiments showed that in the presence of PrOAc, an order of magnitude increase in cathodic current was observed for the Ga electrode, compared to that in the absence of Pr. Decrease in the reduction current with the increase of scan rate, with and without Pr, suggests catalytic reactions following electron transfer, which was attributed to the Ga2O disproportionation reaction. Chronoamperometric experiments performed in Pr containing solutions formed a precipitate. Over 50% of the Pr ions from the aqueous electrolyte were immobilized in the precipitate; a solid Ga-rich phase. Formation of this precipitate was only possible when Ga oxidation was induced. This condition was achieved by circulation of liquid Ga from the pool via external pump and returned dropwise to the liquid Ga pool. When the collected precipitate was leached in dilute HCl, Pr was released with H2 evolved as a byproduct, and Ga returned to its initial liquid metallic state. These preliminary results show encouraging new routes that could be applied for the recovery of diluted REE leachates, such as those obtained from magnets, coal fly ash, and ores.

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