Separation and solvent extraction of rare earth elements (Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, and Er) using TBP and Cyanex 572 from a chloride medium

In this study, synergistic effect of Cyanex 572 mixed with TBP on the extraction and separation of six selected light, medium and heavy rare earth elements (REE), namely neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), and erbium (Er), from the chloride medium was investigated. The results demonstrated that sole TBP is not a suitable extractant for the separation of the REEs from the chloride media. However, Cyanex 572 was identified as a suitable extractant for the separation of heavy REEs, Er, and Tb. At initial pH (pHi) of 1.5, the mixture of 25% TBP + 75% Cyanex 572 extracted about 70% and 85% of Er and Tb, respectively. The separation factor (SF) results of some couples were noteworthy: SFEr/Pr = 30.08, SFEr/Nd = 29.95, SFTb/Pr = 12.22, SFTb/Nd = 12.16, SFEr/Sm = 9.96. Furthermore, the extraction mechanism of these two heavy REEs was studied using slope analysis and Fourier transform infrared measurements (FT-IR). The results showed that Er and Tb were extracted as ErCl2R(HR)3TBP and TbCl2R(HR)3TBP complexes (presumably R and HR refers to Cyanex 572), respectively. The FT-IR spectra confirmed these obtained results qualitatively.