Electrochemical extraction of neodymium by co-reduction with aluminum in LiCl–KCl molten salt

The electrochemical behavior of Nd(III) ions in LiCl–KCl and LiCl–KCl–AlCl3 melts on a Mo electrode at 723 K was studied by various electrochemical techniques. The results showed that Nd(III) ions are reduced to Nd(0) through two consecutive steps, and the underpotential deposition of neodymium on pre-deposited Al electrode formed two kinds of Al–Nd intermetallic compounds in LiCl–KCl–AlCl3 solutions. The electrochemical extraction of neodymium was carried out in LiCl–KCl–AlCl3 melts on a Mo electrode at 873 K by potentiostatic and galvanostatic electrolysis. The extraction efficiency was 99.25% after potentiostatic electrolysis for 30 h. Al–Li–Nd bulk alloy was obtained by galvanostatic electrolysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) suggested that Al2Nd and Al3Nd phases were formed in Al–Li–Nd alloy. The microstructure and micro-zone chemical analysis of Al–Li–Nd alloy were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), respectively.