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Hydrometallurgical processing of Nd–Fe–B magnets for Nd purification

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Abstract

An evaluation of various metal purification processes subsequent to the leaching processing of the neodymium (Nd) product from neodymium–iron–boron (Nd–Fe–B) magnets has been conducted. These post-leaching purification processes included precipitation; replacement and electrolysis were studied in order to check the purity of the recovered neodymium. A hydrometallurgical investigation was adopted to digest the metal content of the scrap Nd–Fe–B magnets for the recovery of valuable Nd metal and other metals such as Fe, B, Co and Ni. The effect of leaching conditions such as solid-to-liquid ratio and temperature were optimized and 100 % Nd, 100 % Fe, 100 % B and 85.87 % Co leaching efficiencies were achieved under these conditions. The coating material of the magnet, Ni, achieved 50 % impregnation after increasing the reaction temperature to 70 °C. The metals present in the optimal leaching solution were recovered 99 % by pH adjustment. However, the replacement had the highest separation efficiency for the recovery of Nd metal. Further, the optimal leaching Nd–Fe–B solution was subjected to the electrolysis processes in order to verify the recovery efficiency for all metals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Da-Yeh University, 168 University Rd., Dacun, Changhua, 51591, Taiwan

    Ching-Hwa Lee, Hsin-Yi Yen, Ching-Hua Liao & Elon I. Cadogan

  2. Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, 11000, Barbados

    Srinivasa R. Popuri

  3. Casting Technology Section, Metal Processing R&D Department, Metal Industries Research & Development Centre, Tainan, 701, Taiwan

    Chuan-Jen Hsu

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  1. Ching-Hwa Lee
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  2. Hsin-Yi Yen
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  3. Ching-Hua Liao
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  4. Srinivasa R. Popuri
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  5. Elon I. Cadogan
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  6. Chuan-Jen Hsu
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Correspondence to Elon I. Cadogan.

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Lee, CH., Yen, HY., Liao, CH. et al. Hydrometallurgical processing of Nd–Fe–B magnets for Nd purification. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 19, 102–110 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0382-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0382-y

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