Novel Process Extracts Rare Earth Elements from Waste
Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 elements that are essential for many modern technologies, including smartphones, electric vehicles, and wind turbines. However, mining and extracting REEs can be expensive and environmentally damaging. That's why researchers are exploring new ways to extract REEs from waste materials.
A team of researchers from the University of Kentucky has developed a novel process that extracts REEs from coal ash, a waste material produced by coal-fired power plants. The process involves using a combination of acids and bases to dissolve the REEs from the coal ash, and then separating them using a series of chemical reactions.
The researchers tested their process on coal ash samples from several power plants in the United States and found that it was able to extract up to 80% of the REEs present in the waste material. The extracted REEs were of high purity and could be used in a variety of applications.
This new process has several advantages over traditional REE extraction methods. First, it is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly, as it uses waste materials instead of mining new ores. Second, it can be used to extract REEs from a variety of waste materials, not just coal ash. Finally, it produces high-purity REEs that can be used in a variety of applications.
The researchers believe that their process could help to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of REEs and make the production of modern technologies more sustainable. They are currently working to scale up their process and make it commercially viable.
https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-technology-news/novel-process-extracts-rare-earth-elements-from-waste
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