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Ion exchange capacity of synthetic zeolite L: a promising way for cerium recovery

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Abstract

The increasing rare earth elements’ (REE) demand to meet the market request and the current political scenario show that it is essential to find good solutions to recover these elements from waste (both industrial and mining). Zeolites are microporous materials with high cation exchange capacity, up to now only little investigated for REE recycle. Here, we propose the use of NH4+-exchanged zeolite L for Ce recovery from a very diluted solution (0.002 M), mimicking the Ce3+ concentration of the liquors deriving from the leaching of spent catalysts. The aim of this work is twofold: (i) to investigate the exploitability of zeolite L as cation exchanger in the Ce recovery; and (ii) to determine the best working conditions. The investigated process consists of a coupled cation exchange: (1) in the first exchange the NH4+ cations — present in the zeolite porosities — are exchanged with the Ce3+ ions in the solution; and (2) in the second experiment, the Ce3+ trapped into the zeolite is recovered through a further exchange with NH4. The best working conditions for Ce3+ exchange of NH4-zeolite L are: batch system, liquid/solid ratio equal to 90 mL/g and 180 mL/g, 24 h of contact at 25 °C. The resulting Ce adsorption capacity (qt) is equal to ~25 mg/g and ~39 mg/g and the removal efficiency 100% and 77% for the two tested liquid/solid ratios, respectively. The kinetics was proved to be fast and consistent with industrial timing; no energy cost for temperature setting is required; and the acid pH (~4) of the solutions does not affect the zeolite structure stability and its exchange performance. It has been demonstrated that the zeolite framework is not affected by the exchange so that the same absorbent material can be employed many times.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Gianluca Malavasi and Lorenzo Tassi for the laboratory equipment and Massimo Tonelli, Monica Malavasi, Monica Vaccari, Simona Bigi and Michelangelo Polisi for their technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ID22, Structure of Materials European Synchrotron Radiation Facility 71, Avenue des Martyrs, 384043, Grenoble, France

    Giorgia Confalonieri

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Giuseppe Campi, 103, 41125, Modena, Italy

    Giovanna Vezzalini, Laura Maletti, Vittorio Gozzoli & Rossella Arletti

  3. ICGM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Centre Balard, 1919 Route de Mende, 34090, Montpellier, France

    Francesco Di Renzo

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  1. Giorgia Confalonieri
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  4. Francesco Di Renzo
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  5. Vittorio Gozzoli
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Giorgia Confalonieri, Vittorio Gozzoli and Laura Maletti. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Giorgia Confalonieri, and all the authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rossella Arletti.

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Confalonieri, G., Vezzalini, G., Maletti, L. et al. Ion exchange capacity of synthetic zeolite L: a promising way for cerium recovery. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 65176–65184 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20429-1

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