Separation of ND(III), DY(III) and Y(III) by solvent extraction using D2EHPA and EHEHPA

• The separation of Y, Nd, and Dy from hydrochloric acid using D2EHPA and EHEHPA separately and in mixtures has been studied.
• A mixture of D2EHPA and EHEHPA provides the best separation of Y from Dy under certain conditions.
• The separation of Nd from Y and Dy is higher using pure D2EHPA.
• The complexation involves not only extractant molecule dimers but also monomers or aggregated REE species to some extent.

The equilibrium separation of trivalent rare earth elements (Nd(III), Dy(III), and Y(III)) from hydrochloric acid solution by di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethyl hexyl ester (EHEHPA) separately and in mixtures has been studied. The effect of extractant concentration, extractant mixture composition and solution acidity has been investigated. The results show that a mixture of D2EHPA and EHEHPA provide a better separation of Y(III) from Dy(III) when the total extractant concentration is 0.06 and 0.09 mol/L, while the separation is better using pure EHEHPA at higher extractant concentration (0.15 mol/L). The separation of Nd(III) from Y(III) and Dy(III) is higher using pure D2EHPA (0.06 and 0.15 mol/L). The results show that for the complexation of the Nd(III) ions approx. 1–2 hydrogen ions/rare earth element (REE) ion are released to the aqueous phase upon binding approximately 1 extractant dimer on average. For the complexation of Y(III) and Dy(III) ions 2–3 hydrogen ions are released upon binding approximately two extractant dimers on average. Accordingly, under the conditions of this work the complexation involves not only extractant molecule dimers but also monomers or aggregated REE species to some extent, and a fraction of the REE is extracted as chloride complexes.