(717c) Adsorption of Aqueous Rare Earth Elements Onto Pyrolyzed Recycled Tires

Extraction methods of Critical Materials¹ (e.g., rare earth elements, REE) is of interest to government initiatives and industry research. Currently all REEs are extracted through mining and mineral processing of REE ores. Established techniques such as precipitation and solvent extraction are used for metal recovery, especially useful for large-scale operations with high metal ion concentrations. In contrast, adsorption can be used to recover metal ions from low-concentration sources by means of relatively simple processes. Many adsorbents for REEs have been studied;^2-14 nevertheless, there is no adsorbent material in practical use as of date.

In this study we examine the feasibility of using carbon black derived from whole used tires obtained by pyrolysis as a sorbent material for REE. Other carbon materials were examined such as activated carbon, commercial carbon black (natural gas partial combustion), and functionalized forms of activated carbon and commercial carbon black. For the adsorption of light REEs (La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Y), various operating variables were tested (i.e., temperature, pH, sorbent loading, interfering ions, and recyclability) as well as the kinetics of adsorption. Overall, the carbon black derived from recycled tires demonstrates better adsorption characteristics over the other carbon materials examined in this study and presents itself as a sustainable material for extraction of rare earth elements from low-temperature geothermal wells.

References:

1.            Bauer, D.; Diamond, D.; Li, J.; Sandalow, D.; Telleen, P.; Wanner, B., US Department of Energy Critical Materials Strategy. 2010.

2.            Araki, K.; Yoshida, M.; Uezu, K.; Goto, M.; Furusaki, S., Lanthanide-imprinted resins prepared by surface template polymerization. J. Chem. Eng. Jpn. 2000, 33, 665-668.

3.            Alakhras, F. A.; Dari, K. A.; Mubarak, M. S., Synthesis and chelating properties of some poly(amidoxime-hydroxamic acid) resins toward some trivalent lanthanide metal ions. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2005,  (691-696).

4.            Bou-Maroun, E.; Goetz-Grandmont, G. J.; Boos, A., Sorption of europium(III) and copper(II) by a mesostructured silica doped with acyl-hydroxypyrazole derivatives — extraction, kinetic and capacity studies. Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 2006, 287, 1-9.

5.            Chen, Y. G.; Zhu, B. H.; Wu, D. B.; Wang, Q. G.; Yang, Y. H.; Ye, W. M.; Guo, J. F., Eu(III) adsorption using di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid-immobilized magnetic GMZ bentonite. Chem. Eng. J. 2012, 181, 387-396.

6.            Choi, S. H.; Lee, K. P.; Sohn, S. H., Graft copolymer–lanthanide complexes obtained by radiation grafting on polyethylene film. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2003, 87, 328-336.

7.            Das, N.; Das, D., Recovery of rare earth metals through biosorption: an overview. J. Rare Earths 2013, 31, 933-943.

8.            Dupont, D.; Brullot, W.; Bloemen, M.; Verbiest, T.; Binnemans, K., Selective uptake of rare earths from aqueous solutions by EDTA-functionalized magnetic and nonmagnetic nanoparticles. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2014, 6(7), 4980-4988.

9.            Jia, Q.; Wang, Z. H.; Li, D. Q.; Niu, C. J., Adsorption of heavy rare earth(III) with extraction resin containing bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) monothiophosphinic acid. J. Alloys Compd. 2004, 374, 434-437.

10.            Ramakrishnan, K.; Rao, T. P., Ion imprinted polymer solid phase extraction (IIP-SPE) for preconcentrative separation of erbium(III) from adjacent lanthanides and yttrium. Sep. Sci. Technol. 2006, 41, 233-246.

11.            Shibata, J.; Matsumoto, S.; Yamamoto, H., A novel separation technology for a heavy rare earth residue using a solvent impregnated resin. Solvent Extr. Res. Dev. Jpn. 2000, 7, 167-175.

12.            Wang, F.; Zhao, J.; Zhou, H.; Li, W.; Sui, N.; Liu, H., O-carboxymethyl chitosan entrapped by silica: preparation and adsorption behaviour toward neodymium (III) ions. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 2013, 88, 317-325.

13.            Wu, D.; Sun, Y.; Wang, Q., Adsorption of lanthanum (III) from aqueous solution using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester-grafted magnetic silica nanocomposites. J. Hazard. Mater. 2013, 260, 409-419.

14.            Ogata, T.; Narita, H.; Tanaka, M., Adsorption behavior of rare earth elements on silica gel modified with diglycol amic acid. Hydrometallurgy 2015, 152, 178-182.