Separation of Lanthanum, Neodymium, and Yttrium by Electrodialysis with EDTA and Citric Acid as Complexing Agents
摘要
Electrodialysis was investigated for separating lanthanum, neodymium, and yttrium using citric acid and EDTA as complexing agents. Monoelementary and multielementary synthetic solutions were prepared at equimolar concentrations (0.1 mol/L) of ions. The matrixes were studied with nitric acid (0.7 mol/L). The pH values of 0.5 and 2.0 were analyzed and adjusted with NaOH and H2SO4. The flux, selectivity, and separation efficiency were calculated. It was applied a current of 200 mA. The experiments were conducted over time periods of 6 and 12 h. It was found that the flux is influenced by the presence of the complexing agent, showing lower values when the agent is present, as it restricts the passage of ions through the membrane. The complexed metallic ions exhibit dimensions larger than the membrane pores and possess either neutral or anionic charges, which hinders their migration toward the cation-concentrated compartment. Ion separation was more efficient at pH 2.0, due to the reduced competition with H⁺ ions. In the H₂SO₄ medium, the extent of complexationComplexation was lower because of sulfate presence. These findings highlight the potential of electrodialysis combined with complexationComplexation for the separation of rare earthRare earths elementsRare earth elements.