Recycling Rare Earth Elements from Industrial Wastewater with Flowerlike Nano-Mg(OH)₂

Abstract

Treatment of wastewater containing low-concentration yet highly-expensive rare earth elements (REEs) is one of the vital issues in the REEs separation and refining industry. In this work, the interaction and related mechanism between self-supported flowerlike nano-Mg(OH)2 and low-concentration REEs wastewater were investigated. More than 99% REEs were successfully taken up by nano-Mg(OH)2. Further analysis revealed that the REEs could be collected on the surface of Mg(OH)2 as metal hydroxide nanoparticles (<5 nm). An ion-exchange model was proposed as a critical factor for both guaranteeing the reaction speed and maintaining the self-supported structure of the materials. In addition, a method was developed to further separate the immobilized REEs and the residual magnesium hydroxide by varying the solution pH. In a pilot-scale experiment, the REEs from practical wastewater were immobilized effectively at a high flow rate. We anticipate this work can provide a good example for the recycling of valuable REEs in practical industrial applications.