• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.39-47
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• 2017

In this study, the precipitation of rare earth-sodium sulfate with sodium sulfate was conducted in order to separate rare earth from Fe in rare earth sulfate solution. Neodymium (Nd) was easily precipitated as Nd-sulfate salt with sodium sulfate, on the other hand, excessive sodium sulfate was needed for the precipitation of Dy-sulfate salt. Also neodymium not only promoted the precipitation of dysprosium sulfate salt but also increased recovery of dysprosium sulfate salt in sulfuric acid solution. At the condition of $60^{\circ}C$ precipitation temperature, 3 h reaction time, 7 equivalents sodium sulfate, the recovery of neodymium and dysprosium sulfate salt was 99.7% and 94.3% respectively from the sulfuric acid solution containing Nd of 23.39 mg/ml and Dy of 8.67 mg/ml. Lastly, from the results of separation of Dy to Nd by the method of sulfate double salt, the effect of salting out with NaCl is important to increase the grade of Dy, and 98.7% of Dy grade could be obtained in this study.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.50-57
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• 2016

This work was examined the extraction and stripping behavior of rare earths (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) from the hydrochloric acid solution by Cyanex 572 and compared to the results that of PC88A. Experimental parameters such as equilibrium pH, extractant & strip reagent concentration were observed and extraction percentage, distribution coefficient, stripping percentage and the separation factor of the adjacent element were analyzed. The $pH_{50}$ values was more higher using Cyanex 572 than that of PC88A. As the increase of the extractant concentration, the distribution coefficient of rare earth elements was increased. Stripping percentage of rare earth elementss from the Cyanex 572 was 85% to 95% and PC88A showed 80% to 87%. Separation factor of Ce/La, Ce/Pr, Pr/Nd, Nd/Sm was enhanced about 1.0-5.0 using Cyanex 572 as an extractant in mixture solution.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.79-87
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• 2017

Extraction and separation behaviors of La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm from light rare earth multi - component mixed solutions by Cyanex 572 were studied. As extractant concentration increased, the $pH_{50}$ values of all the five components decreased. When extractant concentration was larger than 0.6 M, the separation factor of La and Ce, Nd and Sm was higher than 10, while the separation factor between Ce and Pr, Pr and Nd was as low as 0.5~2.2. Addition of TBP to the 0.6 M Cyanex 572 had little synergistic effect on the phase separation rate and separation factor. From the analysis of experiment results, group separation of [La]/[Pr, Nd, Sm] and [Pr, Nd]/[Sm] could be possible, but in case of the group separation between [La, Ce] and [Pr, Nd] was not available because of the low separation factor between Ce and Pr.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.29-35
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• 2018

In this study, the electrochemical redox behavior of neodymium in non-aqueous electrolytes was investigated to confirm the possibility of neodymium metallurgy at room temperature. The non-aqueous electrolytes include ionic liquids such as $[C_4mim]PF_6$, $[C_4mim]Cl$, and $[P_{66614}]PF_6$, ethanol which are highly soluble in neodymium salts, and mixed electrolytes based on carbonate with highly electrochemical stability. The electrochemical redox properties of neodymium were better than those of other electrolytes in the case of the mixed electrolyte based on ethylene carbonate (EC)/di-ethylene carbonate (DEC). Ethanol was added to improve the physical properties of the mixed electrolyte. Thorough the analysis about ionic conductivity of EC/DEC ratio, ethanol content and $NdCl_3$ concentration, the best electrolyte composition was 50 vol% content of ethanol and 0.5 M of $NdCl_3$. Using cyclic voltametry and linear sweep voltametry, a current peak estimated at -3.8 V (vs. Pt-QRE) was observed as a limiting current of neodymium reduction. Potentiostatic electrolysis for 18 hours at room temperature at -6 V (vs. Pt-QRE) confirmed that metallic neodymium was electrodeposited.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.38-47
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• 2020

In this study, factors affecting the adsorption reaction for the separation/recovery of V and W using Lewatit monoplus MP 600, a strong basic anion exchange resin, from the leachate obtained through the soda roasting-water leaching process from the spent SCR DeNO_X catalyst investigated and the adsorption mechanism was discussed based on the results. In the case of the mixed solution of V and W, both ions showed a high adsorption ratio at pH 2-6, but the adsorption of W was greatly reduced at pH 8. In the adsorption isothermal experiment, both V and W were fitted well at the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the reaction kinetics were fitted well at pseudo-second-order. As a result of conducting an adsorption experiment by adjusting the pH with H₂SO₄ to remove Si, which inhibits the adsorption of V and W from the leachate, the lowest W adsorption ratio was shown at pH 8.5. Desorption of W was hardly achieved in strongly acidic solutions, and desorption of V was well performed in both strongly acidic and strongly basic solutions.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.42-50
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• 2019

In this study, the precipitation reaction of vanadium and ammonium chloride in aqueous solution was investigated in order to recover vanadium. Ammonium metavanadate having a crystal structure of [$NH_4VO_3$] was precipitated from aqueous solution containing vanadium at pH 9.2 ~ 9.4, and ammonium polyvanadate having a crystal structure of [$(NH_4)_2V_6O_{16}$] was precipitated when the pH of the aqueous solution containing vanadium was adjusted with sulfuric acid. Ammonium polyvanadate [$(NH_4)_2V_6O_{16}$] precipitated at a temperature of $80{\sim}90^{\circ}C$ and pH 2, and at a temperature of $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 6 ~ 8 of aqueous solution. In the acidic region of aqueous solution pH 2, the vanadium content of the aqueous solution should be at least 3,000 mg/L and the precipitation temperature should be maintained at $80^{\circ}C$ or higher in order to obtain a precipitation ratio of 99% or more. When the ammonium vanadate was precipitated in the alkaline region, the vanadium content was more than 10,000 mg/L and the precipitation temperature was maintained at $40^{\circ}C$ to increase the precipitation ratio. Aluminum was not precipitated regardless of the vanadium content and pH of the aqueous solution. However, the iron component reacts with ammonium chloride to precipitate into ammonium jarosite. Therefore, Fe component must be preferentially removed in order to increase the recovery of vanadium.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.14-23
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• 2021

To investigate the potential for leaching of heavy metals by bacteria from ores stacked on actual mining sites, leaching tests of a complex metallic ore (Pb-Zn-As ore) were conducted over 60 days using acidophile bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans under initial acidic conditions. Initially, a small amount of heavy metals was leached due to the initial acidic conditions. After 20 days, when A. thiooxidans in the reactor was adapted to the ore, the amount of leached heavy metals rapidly increased; the concentrations of leached arsenic, iron, and zinc reached a maximum of 2800, 3700, and 2500 mg/L, respectively. On the other hand, in the presence of A. ferrooxidans or in the control test without bacteria, heavy metals, except zinc, were barely detected in leaching. Through this study, it was confirmed that (i) bacteria could leach heavy metals at mining sites under acidic conditions and (ii) leaching of heavy metals from a high arsenic-containing ore by A. thiooxidans was more significant than that by A. ferrooxidans.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.46-53
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• 2019

In this study, the extraction and reduction behavior of platinum group metals in a non-aqueous solvent based on ionic liquids was investigated in order to confirm a new extraction technology of platinum group metals. Platinum was selectively extracted using an ionic liquid $[C_4mim]PF_6$ from a mixed solution of $PdCl_2$, $PtCl_4$ and $RhCl_3$ dissolved with concentration ratio of 10:1:0.5 M. After stripping of the metals by 1 M $HNO_3$ solution, the platinum was preferentially reduced by aqueous electrolysis on gold electrode at -0.8 V (vs. Pt-QRE). The residual palladium and rhodium were transferred to ionic liquid of $[C_4mim]Cl$. The metallic palladium and rhodium could be sequentially reduced on gold and STS304 as working electrodes by non-aqueous electrolysis, respectively.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.45-52
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• 2019

$TiO_2$ as a raw material for producing titanium can be produced by carbon reduction of natural ilmenite ores over 1823 K and acid leaching of the obtained titanium-rich slag. However, the conventional process can cause very high energy consumption and a large amount of leaching residues. In the present study, we proposed the sulfurization of $FeTiO_3$ with $Na_2SO_4$ at temperatures below 1573 K, which can separate Fe in $FeTiO_3$ as the FeS based sulfide phase and Ti as the $TiO_2-Na_2O$ based oxide phase. This study is a fundamental study for sulfurization of $FeTiO_3$ to investigate the influence of reducing atmosphere, reaction temperature and the sulfur/Fe ratio on the separability and distribution behaviors of of Fe, Ti, and Na between the oxide phase and the sulfurized phase. At 1573 K and carbon saturation condition, the Fe can be separated from $FeTiO_3$ as Fe-C-S metal and a part of FeS, and the concentration of Fe in oxide decreased to 4 mass% after sulfurization.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2021

Arsenic (As) oxidation followed by precipitation from a high-As(III)-containing leaching solution derived from a sulfidic ore was investigated in this study to remove aqueous As from the solution using activated carbon (AC) with air injection as an oxidant. To obtain the initial leaching solution, a domestic sulfidic ore was leached in a sulfuric acid solution at pH 1 and 50℃ for 95 h, and approximately 7 g/L of Fe and 3 g/L of As were leached out. To determine the effect of the oxidative reaction utilizing AC with air injection, the leaching solution was tested under the following five oxidative conditions at an initial pH of 1 and 90℃ for 72 h: air-only injection; air injection with 1, 5, and 10 w/v% of AC addition; and H₂O₂ addition. The tests in the presence of both air and AC revealed that the oxidation kinetics and As removal were improved by the reaction between the metallic species and the surface group formed on the AC surface. In addition, the greater the amount of AC added, the better was the reaction efficiency, removing 93-94% of As with more than 5 w/v% of AC addition. Finally, X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the precipitate formed from the oxidative reaction was scorodite (FeAsO₄·2H₂O).