Sorption Behaviors of Amorphous Titanium Phosphate Towards Neodymium and Dysprosium

Abstract

Due to the limited supply of critical metals, their recovery from alternative sources has become a very important issue. In particular, end-of-life magnets contain significant amounts of neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) ions and are considered secondary sources. The present study focused on the sorption and separation performance of titanium phosphate for Nd and Dy ions in an aqueous solution. In this regard, amorphous titanium phosphate (am‐TiP) was prepared via one‐step precipitation. XRD, SEM‐EDS, FTIR, and BET analysis were utilized to enlighten the morphological, structural, and surface properties of am‐TiP. The uptake of Nd3+ and Dy3+ ions was examined individually and in multiple element solutions depending on solution pH, contact time, metal concentration, and the presence of Co2+ ions. The maximum uptake capacity was 40.16 mg/g at pH 6 for Nd3+ and 26.95 mg/g at pH 4 for Dy3+. Am‐TiP has been observed to exhibit selectivity towards Nd3+ and Dy3+ ions in solutions containing Co2+ ions. The highest desorption yields obtained for Nd3+ and Dy3+ using 1.0 mol/L HCl were 95.2% and 97.4%, respectively.