Rare earth elements from waste

Deng, Bing; Wang, Xin; Luong, Duy Xuan; Carter, Robert A.; Wang, Zhe; Tomson, Mason B.; Tour, James M.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abm3132

Title: Rare earth elements from waste

Journal Article · 09 February 2022 · Science Advances

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm3132 · OSTI ID:1882602

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^[2]; Wang, Zhe ^[2]; Tomson, Mason B. ^[2];

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Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Rice University
Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical materials in electronics and clean technologies. With the diminishing of easily accessible minerals for mining, the REE recovery from waste is an alternative toward a circular economy. Present methods for REE recovery suffer from lengthy purifications, low extractability, and high wastewater streams. Here, we report an ultrafast electrothermal process (~3000°C, ~1 s) based on flash Joule heating (FJH) for activating wastes to improve REE extractability. FJH thermally degrades or reduces the hard-to-dissolve REE species to components with high thermodynamic solubility, leading to ~2× increase in leachability and high recovery yields using diluted acid (e.g., 0.1 M HCl). The activation strategy is feasible for various wastes including coal fly ash, bauxite residue, and electronic waste. The rapid FJH process is energy-efficient with a low electrical energy consumption of 600 kWh ton^–1. The potential for this route to be rapidly scaled is outlined.

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Research Organization:: Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Air Force Office of Scientific Research; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ERDC; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0031794

OSTI ID:: 1882602

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 8; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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bauxite residue
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Title: Rare earth elements from waste

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