Besides the exploration and development of rare earth natural resources, the environmental problem of the rare earth separation and utilization becomes the biggest challenge to both academic and industrial communities in the world. In this talk, we try to review the recent development of rare earth separation by solvent extraction, including (1) the development and application of Theory of Countercurrent Extraction, (2) the novel solvent extraction process and its application in industry for separating heavy rare earth elements (Tm, Yb, Lu), yttrium (Y), and scandium (Sc), (3) the on-line analysis and automatic control of countercurrent extraction, (4) the eco-friendly process for RE/Th separation of bastnasite and electrochemical process for Eu/RE separation, and (5) the optimized flowcharts for typical rare earth minerals in China.

Recent progress on green separation of rare earth in China

248th National Meeting (2014)

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