Studies on extraction and separation of La(III) with DEHPA and PC88A in petrofin

•Extraction of La(III) from nitrate solution using DEHPA and PC88A as extractants in petrofin has been studied.•DEHPA is proven to be a better extractant than PC88A under all experimental conditions.•5 mol/L of HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3 is suitable for stripping 100% of La(III) from the loaded organic phase in a single stage.•PC88A shows higher separation ability than DEHPA in the case of Ce–La, Pr–La, Nd–La and Sm–La pairs in nitrate solution.

The solvent extraction of lanthanum(III) from nitrate solution using DEHPA and PC88A as extractants diluted with petrofin was investigated. The findings indicated that lanthanum extraction process follows a cation-exchange mechanism. The effect of experimental parameters like shaking time, extractant molarity, aqueous medium pH, presence of salt, phase volume ratio, and diluents on the extraction process has been studied. Extraction of 99.8% and 85% has been noticed with 0.5 mol/L DEHPA and 0.6 mol/L PC88A, respectively. Stripping of lanthanum from the loaded organic phase with mineral acids and separation of lanthanum(III) from Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm have also been reported.