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Title: Rare earth separations by selective borate crystallization

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [2]
  1. Soochow Univ. and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou (China). School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang (China)
  2. Soochow Univ. and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou (China). School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Engineering Lab. of Specialty Fibers and Nuclear Energy Materials
  4. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Lanthanides possess similar chemical properties rendering their separation from one another a challenge of fundamental chemical and global importance given their incorporation into many advanced technologies. New separation strategies combining green chemistry with low cost and high efficiency remain highly desirable. We demonstrate that the subtle bonding differences among trivalent lanthanides can be amplified during the crystallization of borates, providing chemical recognition of specific lanthanides that originates from Ln3+ coordination alterations, borate polymerization diversity and soft ligand coordination selectivity. Six distinct phases are obtained under identical reaction conditions across lanthanide series, further leading to an efficient and cost-effective separation strategy via selective crystallization. As proof of concept, Nd/Sm and Nd/Dy are used as binary models to demonstrate solid/aqueous and solid/solid separation processes. Controlling the reaction kinetics gives rise to enhanced separation efficiency of Nd/Sm system and a one-step quantitative separation of Nd/Dy with the aid of selective density-based flotation.

Research Organization:
Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010677; SC0010677
OSTI ID:
1465711
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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A supramolecular lanthanide separation approach based on multivalent cooperative enhancement of metal ion selectivity journal February 2018
Ultra-selective ligand-driven separation of strategic actinides journal June 2019
High-throughput screening for discovery of benchtop separations systems for selected rare earth elements journal January 2020
Lanthanide separation using size-selective crystallization of Ln-MOFs journal January 2017
A molecular basis to rare earth separations for recycling: tuning the TriNOx ligand properties for improved performance journal January 2018
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K 2 [B 4 O 5 (OH) 4 ]·H 2 O and K 2 [B 4 O 5 (OH) 4 ]: two new hydrated potassium borates with isolated [B 4 O 5 (OH) 4 ] 2− units and different structural frameworks journal January 2019
Targeting complex plutonium oxides by combining crystal chemical reasoning with density-functional theory calculations: the quaternary plutonium oxide Cs 2 PuSi 6 O 15 journal January 2020
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