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Optimizing Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Red Mud and Spent Fluorescent Lamp Phosphors Using Levulinic Acid

Author

Listed:
  • Tao Jiang

    (Department of Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA)

  • Sarabjot Singh

    (College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, NY 12203, USA)

  • Kathleen A. Dunn

    (College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, NY 12203, USA)

  • Yanna Liang

    (Department of Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA)

Abstract

Although various hydrometallurgical and solvometallurgical efforts have been made to extract REEs from end-of-life (EoL) products and waste, a systematic and statistical analysis of the impacts of leaching parameters to optimize the leaching process using organic acids is necessary, but lacking in the literature. This study employed the response surface methodology to develop mathematical models for optimal leaching by levulinic acid (LevA) of REEs in two waste materials, namely red mud and spent fluorescent lamp phosphors. The established models exhibited excellent statistical properties, in terms of significance, fitting, prediction, and error distribution. For red mud, the optimal conditions of liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S; v / w ) of 40, temperature of 70 °C, and duration of 60 h led to 100% leaching of REEs excluding Sc. At the same L/S and temperature, >98.7% of REEs were leached from fluorescent phosphors after 96 h. The SEM–EDS analysis of the waste materials revealed and confirmed morphological and compositional changes after leaching under the optimal conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Tao Jiang & Sarabjot Singh & Kathleen A. Dunn & Yanna Liang, 2022. "Optimizing Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Red Mud and Spent Fluorescent Lamp Phosphors Using Levulinic Acid," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9682-:d:881703
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mancheri, Nabeel A., 2015. "World trade in rare earths, Chinese export restrictions, and implications," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P2), pages 262-271.
    2. Opare, Emmanuel Ohene & Struhs, Ethan & Mirkouei, Amin, 2021. "A comparative state-of-technology review and future directions for rare earth element separation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    3. Hongbo Du, & Deng, Fang & Kommalapati, Raghava R. & Amarasekara, Ananda S., 2020. "Iron based catalysts in biomass processing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
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    1. Rita Khanna & Dmitry Zinoveev & Yuri Konyukhov & Kejiang Li & Nikita Maslennikov & Igor Burmistrov & Jumat Kargin & Maksim Kravchenko & Partha Sarathy Mukherjee, 2025. "Extraction of Alumina and Alumina-Based Cermets from Iron-Lean Red Muds Using Carbothermic Reduction of Silica and Iron Oxides," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-18, July.

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