Cerium Redox Chemistry Pumps Nitrate Ion Transfer across Liquid-Liquid Interfaces in Solvent Extraction Systems

摘要

In the recovery and purification of rare-earth elements, solvent extraction (SX) is an effective and established process. There is more than 60 years of industrial practice that was begun by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers, who in 1953 reported the first kilogram-scale separation of gadolinium.1 Yet, despite decades of science and engineering, there is still a fundamental need to understand ion transfer across water-oil phase boundaries to achieve high-performance extraction. Herein we present a general method based upon electroanalytical chemistry for exploring ion transfer processes in biphasic SX systems with cerium.