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Recovery of rare earth elements from waste fluorescent phosphors: Na2O2 molten salt decomposition

  • SPECIAL FEATURE: ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • The 8th International Conference on Waste Management and Technology (ICWMT) 2013
  • Published:
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Abstract

In this paper, an efficient recovery of rare earth elements from waste fluorescent phosphors has been reported and the novel process of alkali fusion and acid leaching has been proposed. The experimental results have shown that the key for efficient recycling is the complete dissolution of waste fluorescent phosphors. The Na2O2-to-waste mass ratio, calcination temperature and reactive time play considerable roles in rare earth elements extraction during the alkali fusion process. The optimal conditions in terms of temperature, time and Na2O2-to-waste mass ratio are 650 °C, 15 min and 2:1, respectively, under which more than 99.5 % rare earth elements are extracted. The possible reaction mechanism of alkali fusion has been proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (2012AA063207), State Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Reuse for Building Materials, National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 21306004), the 12th foundation of science and technology for the Beijing University of Technology (ykj-2013-9748).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Recycling Economy, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, People’s Republic of China

    Yufeng Wu, Baolei Wang, Qijun Zhang, Ruiqing Li & Wei Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Chenghua Sun

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  1. Yufeng Wu
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  2. Baolei Wang
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  3. Qijun Zhang
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  4. Ruiqing Li
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  5. Chenghua Sun
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  6. Wei Wang
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Correspondence to Qijun Zhang or Chenghua Sun.

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Wu, Y., Wang, B., Zhang, Q. et al. Recovery of rare earth elements from waste fluorescent phosphors: Na2O2 molten salt decomposition. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 16, 635–641 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-014-0295-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-014-0295-1

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