Leaching characteristics of ion-adsorption type rare earths ore with magnesium sulfate

Magnesium sulfate was proposed to be leaching agent to deal with the ion-adsorption type rare earths ore to reduce or even eliminate ammonia?nitrogen emissions. The effects of temperature, particle size and stirring speed on rare earth leaching process and the leaching behaviors of the single rare earth element were investigated in order to reveal the rare earth leaching characteristics. Besides, the comparison of leaching effects between magnesium sulfate and ammonium sulfate was also studied. The results showed that the rare earth leaching process could be well described with inner diffusion control model and the apparent activation energy was 9.48 kJ/mol. The leaching behaviors of the single rare earth element were brought into correspondence with rare earths. Moreover, when the concentration of leaching agent was 0.20 mol/L, the rare earth leaching efficiency could all reach above 95% and the leaching efficiency of aluminum impurities could be restrained by 10% using magnesium sulfate compared with ammonium sulfate.

Biomedical rare-earth magnesium alloy:Current status and future prospects

Biomedical magnesium(Mg)alloys have garnered significant attention because of their unique biodegradability,favorable biocompatibility,and suitable mechanical properties.The incorporation of rare earth(RE)elements,with their distinct physical and chemical properties,has greatly contributed to enhancing the mechanical performance,degradation behavior,and biological performance of biomedical Mg alloys.Currently,a series of RE-Mg alloys are being designed and investigated for orthopedic implants and cardiovascular stents,achieving substantial and encouraging research progress.In this work,a comprehensive summary of the state-of-the-art in biomedical RE-Mg alloys is provided.The physiological effects and design standards of RE elements in biomedical Mg alloys are discussed.Particularly,the degradation behavior and mechanical properties,including their underlying action are studied in-depth.Furthermore,the preparation techniques and current application status of RE-Mg alloys are reviewed.Finally,we address the ongoing challenges and propose future prospects to guide the development of high-performance biomedical Mg-RE alloys.

Leaching process of rare earths from weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ore

In order to strengthen the leaching procedure,the chemical processes of leaching rare earths (RE) from the weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ore were investigated frow the viewpoints of kinetics,hydrodynamic and mass transfer.The results show that the leaching hydrodynamics follows the Darcy law.The leaching kinetics can be described by the shrinking core model;the leaching process is controlled by diffusion of porous solid layer;and the mass transfer can be described with Van Deemter equation.This provides a theoretic basis and a scientific approach with high efficiency and optimized extraction conditions in industrial practice.

Mechanism of Effects of Rare Earths on Microstructure and Properties at Elevated Temperatures of AZ91 Magnesium Alloy

By using real-space recursion method,the energetics of the undoped and Al and/or RE atoms doped 7（1450）〈0001〉 symmetric tilt grain boundaries（GBs）in AZ91 alloys were investigated.Similar calculations were performed on undoped and doped bulk α Mg for comparison.The results showed that Al atoms segregated at GBs in AZ91 alloys.When RE atoms were added,they also segregated at GBs,and their segregation is stronger than Al atoms＇.Therefore,RE atoms retard the segregation of Al atoms.Calculations of interaction energy indicated that Al atoms repelled each other,and could form ordered phase with host Mg atoms.On the contrary to the case of Al,RE atoms attracted each other,they could not form ordered phase with Mg,but could form clusters.Between RE and Al,there existed attractive interaction,and this attractive interaction was the origin of Al11RE3 precipitation.Precipitation of Al11RE3 particles with high melting point and high thermal stability along GB improves high temperature properties of AZ91 alloys.

Effect of Rare Earths on Tribological Properties of Carbon Fibers Reinforced PTFE Composites

Carbon fibers （CF） were surface treated with air-oxidation and rare earths （RE）, respectively. The effect of RE surface treatment on tensile strength and tribological properties of CF reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene （PTFE） composites was invest/gated. Experimental results revealed that RE was superior to air ox/dation in improving the tensile strength, elongation, and the tensile modulus of CF reinforced PTFE （CF/PTFE） composite. Compared to the untreated and air-oxidated CF/PTFE composite, the RE treated composite had the lowest friction coefficient and specific wear rate under a given applied load and reciprocating sliding frequency. The RE treatment effectively improved the interfacial adhesion between CF and PTFE. With strong interfacial coupling, the carbon fibers carried most of the load, and direct contact and adhesion between PTFE and the counterpart were reduced, accordingly the friction and wear properties of the composite were improved.

Effects of rare earths on the microarc oxidation of a magnesium alloy

The effects of rare earths on the properties of the microarc oxidation（MAO） coating on a magnesium alloy were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy（EDS）,and electrochemistry methods.The results show that a nice and compact MAO coating was successfully obtained when the magnesium alloy was treated in nitrate solutions as the pre-treatment of MAO.However,the MAO was not successfully completed for the silicate electrolytes with the addition of rare earths.After the magnesium alloy being treated by rare earth nitrate,the obtained MAO coating has advantages such as uniform distribution of thickness,improved corrosion resistance,and nice-uniform surface,as compared with the untreated magnesium alloy.In addition,the time of non-ESP,the voltage and current density of the MAO process obviously decrease.Cerium oxide doped on the surface of the magnesium alloy can significantly improve the corrosion resistance of the MAO coating and decrease the current density of the MAO process,as compared with lanthanum oxide,whereas the doped rare earths have no significant effect on the components of the MAO coating.

Rare Earths and Magnetic Refrigeration

Magnetic refrigeration is a revolutionary, efficient, environmentally friendly cooling technology, which is on the threshold of commercialization. The magnetic rare earth materials are utilized as the magnetic refrigerants in most cooling devices, and for many cooling application the Nd2Fe14B permanent magnets are employed as the source of the magnetic field. The status of the near room temperature magnetic cooling was reviewed.

Effect of Rare Earths on Plant under Supplementary Ultraviolet-B Radiation: Ⅰ Effect of Cerium on Growth and Photosynthesis in Rape Seedlings Exposed to Supplementary Ultraviolet-B Radiation

Effect of cerium （Ce^3＋） on growth and photosynthesis in rape seedlings exposed to two levels of ultraviolet-B radiation （UV-B, 280 - 320 nm） was studied with hydroponics under laboratory conditions. The growth of rape seedlings exposed to two levels of UV-B irradiation （0.15 and 0.35 W· m^-2/T2） was both heavily restrained. The aboveground growth indices including stem （plant） height, leaf number, leaf area, leaf fresh/dry weight and stem fresh/dry weight were obviously decreased by 13.2% - 44.1% （T1） and 21 .4% - 49.3% （T2）. Compared to CK, and except active absorption area of roots, the belowground indices main root length, root volume and fresh/dry weight by 14.1% -35.6% （T1） and 20.3% - 42.6% （T2）, respectively. For Ce ＋ UV-B treatments, the aboveground and belowground growth indices were decreased by 4.1% - 23.6%, 5.2% -23.3% （Ce＋T1） and 10.8% -28.4%, 7.0% -27.8% （Ce ＋T2）, lower than those of UV-B treatments mentioned above. These results show that Ce has protective effect on plant against injury of UV-B radiation. Furthermore, the protective effect of Ce on seedlings exposed to T1 level of UV-B radiation is superior to T2 level. Chlorophyll content, net photosynthesis rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency in UV-B treatments decrease dramatically, whereas intercellular CO2 concentration increases. Although these indices in Ce ＋ UV-B treatments decrease compared with those of CK, the decrease in Ce ＋ UV-B treatments are lower than those in UV-B treatment. This phenomenon indicates that the ecophysiological protective effect of Ce is based on improving photosynthesis in plants. The dynamic curves of photosynthesis indices show that the course of light-repair is shortened and the injury to rape seedlings by UV-B radiation stress is alleviated by Ce.

Effect of Rare Earths on Diffusion Coefficient and Transfer Coefficient of Carbon during Carburizing

The diffusion coefficient of carbon in surface layer of steel-20 rare earth carburixed at 880 degreesC and 900 degreesC for 8 h was calculated by substituting the measured layer depths into the diffusion equation. The mathematical model of the transfer coefficient of carbon was deduced based on the kinetics of weight gain during gas carburizing. The calculated results show that the main reason why the gas carburizing process is accelerated is due to the obvious increase in the diffusion coefficient and transfer coefficient of carbon resulted from the addition of RE.

Band gap calculation and photo catalytic activity of rare earths doped rutile TiO_2

The density of states （DOS） of 17 kinds of rare earths （RE） doped rutile TiO2 was by using first-principles density functional theory （DFT） calculation. The band gap widths of RE doped futile TiO2 were important factors for altering their absorbing wavelengths. The results show that RE ions could obviously reduce the band gap widths and form of energy of ruffle TiO2 except Lu, Y, Yb and Sc, and the order of absorbing wavelengths of RE doped ruffle TiO2 were the same as that of the results of calculation. The ratio of RE dopant was another important factor for the photo catalytic ＇activity of RE doped rutile TiO2, and there was an optimal ratio of dopant. There was a constant for predigesting the calculation difficulty, respectively, which were 0.5mol.% and 100 mol^-1 under supposition. The band gap widths of RE doped rutile TiOz by DFT calculation were much larger than that by experiment. Finally, by transferring the calculation values to experiment values, it could be found and predicted that RE enlarged obviously the absorbing wavelengh of ruffle TiO2. In addition, the degree of RE ions edging out the Ti atom using the parameters of RE dements was computed.

Evaluation of Tribological Performance of PTFE Composite Filled with Rare Earths Treated Carbon Fibers under Water-Lubricated Condition

Carbon fibers （CFs） were surface treated with air-oxidation, rare earths （RE） after air-oxidation, and rare earths, respectively. Erichsen test was conducted to study the interfacial adhesion of PTFE composites filled with carbon fibers treated with different treatment methods. Tribological properties of the PTFE composites, sliding against GCr15 steel under water-lubricated condition, were investigated on a reciprocating ball-on-disk UMT-2MT tribometer. The worn surfaces of the composites were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Experimental results reveal that RE treatment is superior to air oxidation in promoting tribological properties of CF reinforced PTFE （CF/PTFE） composite. The friction and wear properties of PTFE composite filled with RE treated CF are the best of the PTFE composites. RE treatment is more effective than air oxidation to improve the tribological properties of CF/PTFE composite owing to the effective improvement of interfacial adhesion between carbon fibers and PTFE matrix.

Refining Effect of a New Al3Ti1B1RE Master Alloy on Al Sheets Used for Can Manufacture and Behavior of Rare Earths in Master Alloy

The refining effect of Al3Ti1B1RE master alloy on Al sheets used for pressure can manufacture and the behavior of mixed rare earths in master alloy were investigated with XRD, OM, SEM and EDAX. It is found that the refining effect of the refiner on the material has superiority over foreign or domestic Al5Ti1B refiner, and the refiner still retains its refining ability for 6 h after adding it to molten Al, thus improving the strength and plasticity of the material remarkably. The excellent refining effect and stability of AlTiBRE refiner result from that RE can lower the surface energy of molten Al and improve the wetting characteristics of molten Al on refinement nuclei such as TiAl 3, TiB 2, etc., thus giving full play to the effect of heterogeneous nucleation and impeding the congregating tendency of TiB 2 phase in molten Al. At the same time, RE gathering in front of solid/liquid interface are also easy to cause composition supercooling in molten Al, thus impeding the growth of α Al grains and promoting α Al nucleation on refinement nuclei. In addition, RE also play certain role in purification and grain refinement, or modification, especially their effect of purification can improve the metallurgical quality of AlTiBRE master alloy.

CuZnAl Shape Memory Alloy Refined with Composite Rare Earths La+Ce

The effects of composite rare earths La+Ce on properties of CuZnAl shape memory alloys were studied bymetallograph examination, tensile and bending tests, electric resistivity measurements, EDS and SEM. The test resultsshow that the grain size of CuZnAl shape memory alloys could be diminished effectively and the mechanical propertiesimproved obviously by the addition of composite rare earths La+Ce (La: Ce=1: 1). Meanwhile, the excellent shapememory properties remained unchanged. The results of microanalyses indicate that the composite rare earths were segregated at grain boundaries and impeded the grain growth, leading to the improvement of the mechanical properties ofCuZnAl alloys. If the amount of composite rare earths La+Ce was greater than 0. 10%, the shape memorial propertiesbecame poor.

Application of Rare Earths in Thermal Barrier Coating Materials

Rare earths are a series of minerals with special properties that make them essential for applications including miniaturized electronics, computer hard disks, display panels, missile guidance, pollution controlling catalysts, H2-storage and other advanced materials. The use of thermal barrier coatings （TBCs） has the potential to extend the working temperature and the life of a gas turbine by providing a layer of thermal insulation between the metallic substrate and the hot gas. Yttria （Y203）, as one of the most important rare earth oxides, has already been used in the typical TBC material YSZ （yttria stabilized zirconia）. In the development of the TBC materials, especially in the latest ten years, rare earths have been found to be more and more important. All the new candidates of TBC materials contain a large quantity of rare earths, such as R2Zr207 （R=La, Ce, Nd, Gd）, CeO2-YSZ, RMeAI11019 （R=La, Nd; Me=Mg, Ca, Sr） and LAP04. The concept of double-ceramic- layer coatings based on the rare earth materials and YSZ is effective for the improvement of the thermal shock life of TBCs at high temperature.

Effects of Rare Earths on Toughness of 31Mn2SiRE Wear- Resistance Cast Steel

The toughness of 31Mn2SiRE wear-resistance cast steel were increased by means of RE compound modification and high temperature austenitizing. The results show that the microstructures can be refined, needle and network ferrite are eliminated, the dislocation density and the quantity of dislocated martensite are increased remarkably, and the shape and distribution of inclusions are improved by the addition of RE. Therefore, the mechanical properties of the modified steel can be greatly increased, especially the toughness (αK) by 44%, yield strength (σs) by 10%, and elongation (δ5) by 42%.

Adsorption of Ce(Ⅳ) Anionic Nitrato Complexes onto Anion Exchangers and Its Application for Ce(Ⅳ) Separation from Rare Earths(Ⅲ)

Ce （Ⅳ） nitrato complexes were adsorbed on two anion exchangers based on polyvinyl pyridine （PVP） and quatemized PVP incorporated into porous silica matrix. The effect of nitric acid concentration （0.5～6 mol·L^-1） and temperature （278 ～318 K） on Ce（ Ⅳ ） sorption efficiency was investigated. Sorption increased with increasing nitric acid concentration, indicating that [Ce（NO3）6]^2- complex is the main adsorbed Ce（Ⅳ） species. Oxidation of sorbents by adsorbed Ce （ Ⅳ ） species resulting in Ce （ Ⅲ ） release to the solution was observed. Pyridine based anion exchangers exhibited higher oxidation stability compared to the commercial strong base anion exchanger. Ce（ Ⅳ ） reduction was temperature dependent and obeyed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. Column separation of Ce （ Ⅳ ） from La （ Ⅲ ） and Y （ Ⅲ ） was carried out from 6 mol·L^-1 nitric acid with PVP based anion exchanger. Reasonable Ce （Ⅳ） breakthrough capacity （0.7 mol·kg^-1 PVP） was achieved. No remarkable decrease of capacity was observed within 3 consequent runs. In contrast, Ce （Ⅲ） leakage due to reduction decreased and breakthrough capacity slightly increased. This effect was more pronounced with increasing temperature. Regeneration with 0.1 mol·L^- 1 nitric acid was successful （recovery 100% ± 4% ） and Ce solution of high purity （ 〉 99.97% ） with respect to La and Y content was gained.

Degradation of Extraction from Seaweed and Its Complex with Rare Earths for Organophosphorous Pesticides

On the basis of several experiments carried out in China, it was proved that both seaweed liquid fertilizer and rare earth （RE） could promote the growth of crops and increase their yield. The effects of extraction from seaweed and its complex with RE on the degradation of organophosphorous pesticides and the yield of vegetables were investigated. The resuits showed that the extract and its complex with RE could degrade organophosphorous pesticides in neutral solvent. The residues of the pesticides treated by the extract decreased by 96.88 %, 52.30%, 49.52%, and 22.88 %, respectively, for chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos, omethoate, and dimethoate, and those by the complex decreased by 95.99%, 54.23%, 48.79%, and 25.66%, respectively, when compared with the control. The residues of chlorpyrifos and dimethoate in spinach sprayed with the complex were decreased by 90.64% and 76.56%, respectively, compared with those in spinach from control plots when the interval between spraying and sampling was 8 d. The fresh weight of brassica chinensis and cabbage increased by 28.62% and 18.72%, and their dry weight increased by 44.49% and 14.74%, respectively, compared with those of the controls. The chlorpyrifos and dimethoate residues in brasscia chinese were decreased by 36.36% and 50.00%, respectively, and their rate of decrease in cabbage was 40.00% and 75.00%, respectively, on 5th day after spraying with the complex, when compared with those in the vegetable from control. These results suggest that this complex can increase the agricultural productivity and reduce the use of pesticide residues in the production of vegetables.

Centrifugal extraction of rare earths from wet-process phosphoric acid

Phosphorite ore is a potential resource of rare earths （RE） as well as phosphate; therefore, the recovery of RE from wet-process phosphoric acid （WPA） is promising. This study investigated the influence of rotational speed, extractant concentration, flow ratio and phase contact time on the centrifugal extraction of RE from WPA and the separation of RE from impurities. The results indicate that higher rotational speed, higher extractant concentration and larger flow ratio are beneficial to the extraction of RE and impurities from phosphoric acid. It is found that the phase contact time for efficiently extracting RE and that for iron are of great difference, which provides an effective method for separating RE from iron using the non-equilibrium extraction process in centrifugal contactors. Compared with equilibrium extraction, the separation factor βRE/Fe is enhanced from 0.07 to 17.6.

Preparation and Performance of Rare Earths Chemical Conversion Film on Magnesium Alloy

Golden yellow cerium conversion film was obtained on magnesium alloys surface by immersion method and the preparation parameters were established. The influence of different process parameters on the surface morphology and performance of the conversion film were analyzed by means of SEM and electrochemical method. Formation dynamics about cerium conversion film on magnesium alloy in solution containing cerium salt and the anti-corrosion behavior of the conversion film in 3.5% NaCl solution were studied by electrochemical method respectively. The results shows that the conversion film is more compact at room temperature when concentration of cerium sulfate is 10 g·L-1 in the solution; the open circuit potential of the magnesium sample moves up to positive direction about 100 mV, the surface of conversion film becomes even and lustrous, and the adhesion intensity of conversion film increases when adding aluminum nitrate into the solution containing cerium salt. The pH value of the solution and immersion time of the sample in the solution also affect the surface morphology and anti-corrosion property of the conversion film. After covered by rare earths conversion film, the anti-corrosion property of magnesium alloy is obviously improved. Rare earth conversion film has self-repairing capability in corrosion medium.

Effect of Rare Earths on Properties of BNbRE Rail Steel

The development and properties of BNbRE rail steel and the effect of RE on rail steel were studied. The results show that the properties of rail steel ( σ b≥980 MPa, δ 5≥8%) can be improved by adding RE and niobium and adjusting the content of C, Si and Mn in steel. At the same time, the abrasion resistance, contact fatigue and fatigue property of BNbRE rail steel are excellent. It also shows that RE in rail steel has the functions of purifying steel, modifying inclusion and micro alloy action effect. The improved steel making process enhances the quality of molten steel. Although the content of RE is low, excellent properties of BNbRE rail steel are achieved.