Abstract
We report a method for preparing rare earth oxides ($Re_xO_y$) from the recycling process for spent Ni-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. This process first involves a leaching of spent Ni-MH powders with sulfuric acid at $90^{\circ}C$, resulting in rare earth precipitates (i.e., $NaRE(SO_4)_2{\cdot}H_2O$, RE = La, Ce, Nd), which are converted into rare earth oxides via two different approaches: i) simple heat treatment in air, and ii) metathesis reaction with NaOH at $70^{\circ}C$. Not only the morphological features but also the crystallographic structures of all products are systematically investigated using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD); their thermal behaviors are also analyzed. In particular, XRD results show that some of the rare earth precipitates are converted into oxide form (such as $La_2O_3$, $Ce_2O_3$, and $Nd_2O_3$) with heat treatment at $1200^{\circ}C$; however, secondary peaks are also observed. On the other hand, rare earth oxides, RExOy can be successfully obtained after metathesis of rare earth precipitates, followed by heat treatment at $1000^{\circ}C$ in air, along with a change of crystallographic structures, i.e., $NaRE(SO_4)_2{\cdot}H_2O{\rightarrow}RE(OH)_3{\rightarrow}RE_xO_y$.
