Improved separation of Ce, La, and Nd from a concentrate of rare-earth hydroxide via fractional precipitation

Abstract

In this report, we describe the selective and effective separation of Ce, La, and Nd rare-earth (RE) elements from the concentrate of a RE hydroxide (REOH) feedstock. The separation steps included dissolving the feedstock into a nitric acid solution and oxidizing the solution with potassium bromate (KBrO3) as an oxidizing agent to enable precipitation under the addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The yellow precipitates consisted of a concentrate of Ce precipitates, and the filtrate contained La and Nd. The adjustment of the pH of the filtrate to 8.5 with ammonia solution led to the precipitation of Nd and an La concentrate in the filtrate. The developed method was demonstrated to be selective and adequate for the qualification separation of Ce, La, and Nd. This study demonstrates the identification and analysis of REOH from PTBGN-BATAN, Indonesia, and can be used as a reference for further processing at both the laboratory and industrial scale.