Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions
Scandium, a valuable element with restricted production sources mainly situated in China and Russia, is typically obtained as a by-product during the production of various materials. As the demand for scandium grows in the expanding aluminum and fuel cell industries, and with significant investments...
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Separations |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/10/7/366 |
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| author | Aikaterini Toli Eleni Mikeli Danai Marinos Efthymios Balomenos Dimitrios Panias |
| author_facet | Aikaterini Toli Eleni Mikeli Danai Marinos Efthymios Balomenos Dimitrios Panias |
| author_sort | Aikaterini Toli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scandium, a valuable element with restricted production sources mainly situated in China and Russia, is typically obtained as a by-product during the production of various materials. As the demand for scandium grows in the expanding aluminum and fuel cell industries, and with significant investments in rare earth mining in the USA and Australia, there is a need to explore alternative recovery sources. This research investigates the recovery of scandium from an acid pregnant leaching solution using ion exchange resins. The pregnant leaching solution was obtained after the leaching of bauxite residue with sulfuric acid. Commercial resins with different functional groups were tested for their performance in scandium extraction. In addition, the co-adsorption of impurities, such as iron and titanium, was studied. The feed solution consisted of 12.7 mg/L Sc and main impurities of 272 mg/L Fe and 33.6 mg/L Ti and was pretreated before the ion exchange process by acidification with sulfuric acid and iron powder addition to suppress silica gel formation and minimize the Fe(III) content in the solution accordingly. Among the tested resins, a D<sub>2</sub>EHPA-impregnated resin had high selectivity for Sc towards Ti, while a monophosphonic resin was also a promising option since it had a higher capacity for Sc but co-extracted Ti. These findings offer promising opportunities for the recovery of scandium from acid leaching solutions and could contribute to addressing the growing demand for this valuable element. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:39:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6800b057165347fb855a57b2773746bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-8739 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:39:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Separations |
| spelling | doaj.art-6800b057165347fb855a57b2773746bc2023-11-18T21:20:42ZengMDPI AGSeparations2297-87392023-06-0110736610.3390/separations10070366Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching SolutionsAikaterini Toli0Eleni Mikeli1Danai Marinos2Efthymios Balomenos3Dimitrios Panias4School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, GreeceSchool of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, GreeceScandium, a valuable element with restricted production sources mainly situated in China and Russia, is typically obtained as a by-product during the production of various materials. As the demand for scandium grows in the expanding aluminum and fuel cell industries, and with significant investments in rare earth mining in the USA and Australia, there is a need to explore alternative recovery sources. This research investigates the recovery of scandium from an acid pregnant leaching solution using ion exchange resins. The pregnant leaching solution was obtained after the leaching of bauxite residue with sulfuric acid. Commercial resins with different functional groups were tested for their performance in scandium extraction. In addition, the co-adsorption of impurities, such as iron and titanium, was studied. The feed solution consisted of 12.7 mg/L Sc and main impurities of 272 mg/L Fe and 33.6 mg/L Ti and was pretreated before the ion exchange process by acidification with sulfuric acid and iron powder addition to suppress silica gel formation and minimize the Fe(III) content in the solution accordingly. Among the tested resins, a D<sub>2</sub>EHPA-impregnated resin had high selectivity for Sc towards Ti, while a monophosphonic resin was also a promising option since it had a higher capacity for Sc but co-extracted Ti. These findings offer promising opportunities for the recovery of scandium from acid leaching solutions and could contribute to addressing the growing demand for this valuable element.https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/10/7/366D<sub>2</sub>EHPA-impregnated resinmonophosphonic resinsulfuric acidleachingscandiumadsorption isotherms |
| spellingShingle | Aikaterini Toli Eleni Mikeli Danai Marinos Efthymios Balomenos Dimitrios Panias Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions Separations D<sub>2</sub>EHPA-impregnated resin monophosphonic resin sulfuric acid leaching scandium adsorption isotherms |
| title | Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions |
| title_full | Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions |
| title_short | Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions |
| title_sort | assessing the efficiency of ion exchange resins for the recovery of scandium from sulfuric acid leaching solutions |
| topic | D<sub>2</sub>EHPA-impregnated resin monophosphonic resin sulfuric acid leaching scandium adsorption isotherms |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/10/7/366 |
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