Separation and comprehensive utilization of valuable elements in Ti-bearing electric arc furnace molten slag

A novel route to comprehensive utilization of valuable elements such as Ti, A1, Si and Mg in Ti-bearing electric arc furnace molten slag （Ti-bearing EAF slag） was proposed. The route can be expressed as a three-step process including alkali fusion, water leaching and acidolysis. Following these processes under the optimum conditions, the recovery ratios of TiO2, Al2O3, SiO2 and MgO were about 97.5, 93.5, 27.9 and 53.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, nanostructured TiO2, NaA zeolite and Mg（OH）2 fire retardant were synthesized simultaneously by using Ti-bearing EAF slag as raw materials. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of prepared nanostructured TiO2 and the adsorption property of obtained NaA zeolite were investigated. The results showed that the photodegradation efficiency of as-prepared TiO2 was 80% for rhodamine B and the adsorption efficiency of NaA zeolite was 61% for Cu2＋ under the optimum conditions.

Enrichment Characteristics, Occurrence and Origin of Valuable Trace Elements in Lignite from Linchang Coal Mine, Guangxi, China

To evaluate the comprehensive exploitation and utilization values of coal resources in Baise basin of Guangxi, the Paleogene coal of Linchang coal mine were sampled and studied. The enrichment characteristics, occurrence modes, and geochemical origin of valuable trace elements in coal were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS), polarizing microscope, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The results reveal that Linchang coal is ultra-low calorific value lignite with high ash, medium sulfur, medium-high moisture and medium volatilization. The minerals are mainly composed of illite, kaolinite, quartz, pyrite, siderite, bassanite, anhydrite and magnesium-containing calcite. Compared with average values for world low-rank coals, the contents of valuable trace elements in Linchang coal are higher on the whole, which is characterized by the high enrichment of U, the enrichment of elements Li, V and Ag, and the slight enrichment of elements Be, Ga and Se. Lithium, V, Ga and Ag mainly occur in clay minerals including illite and kaolinite, and part of V is related to organic matter. The carriers of Be in coal are clay minerals and organic matter. Selenium is mainly combined with organic matter and a small amount exists in pyrite. Uranium is primarily organically bound in coal. The enrichment of valuable trace elements in Linchang coal is influenced by the sedimentary source, coal-forming environment, underground circulating water and geological structure. The sedimentary environment of the coal seam is an acid-reduced terrestrial peat swamp, and the source is Triassic sedimentary rocks weathered from feldspathic volcanic rocks around Baise basin.

Recycling valuable cobalt from spent lithium ion batteries for controllably designing a novel sea-urchin-like cobalt nitride-graphene hybrid catalyst: Towards efficient overall water splitting

Along with the continuous consumption in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the price of cobalt is inevitably going up in recent years. Therefore, recycling valuable Co element from spent devices, and boosting its service efficiency are becoming two indispensable approaches to promote the utilization of Co in various energy conversion/storage devices. Herein, we realize the recovery of Co from spent LIBs and synthesize a three–dimensional (3D) sea-urchin-like cobalt nitride composite material (labeled as CoN-Gr-2), which is used as a bi-functional catalyst for water splitting. Benefiting from the intrinsic high conductivity, larger surface area and unique 3D sea–urchin–like architecture, CoN-Gr-2 shows an excellent electron transfer efficiency, highly exposed active sites as well as the superior mass transport capacity. The CoN-Gr-2 catalyst exhibits low overpotentials of 128.9 mV and 280 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which are comparable to the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C and RuO_(2) catalysts. Moreover, when adopting CoN-Gr-2 as both anode and cathode materials for overall water splitting (in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte), the assembled cell achieves a current density of 10 mA cm^(−2) at 1.61 V, which almost close to that of Pt/C||RuO_(2) benchmark (1.60 V), demonstrating its superior water-splitting efficiency. Meanwhile, the CoN catalysts exhibit strong chemical interaction with the Gr support, suppressing the aggregation of CoN catalysts and maintains their high activity during HER and OER reactions. So, the cell exhibits a high current retention of 97.3% after 40 h. This work successfully develops an industrial chain from recycling Co wastes in spent energy devices to controllably designing 3D sea-urchin-like CoN-Gr with high water splitting efficiency. Therefore, it could further promote the efficient utilization of valuable Co element in various energy devices.

An advanced partitioning process for key elements separation from high level liquid waste

To separate MA （Am, Cm） and some fission product elements （FPs） such as Tc, Pd, Cs and Sr from high level liquid waste （HLLW） systematically, we have been studying an advanced aqueous partitioning process, which uses selective adsorption as the separation method. For this process, we prepared several novel adsorbents which were immobilized in a porous sili- c^polymer composite support （SiO2-P）. Adsorption and separation behavior of various elements was studied experimentally in detail. Small scale separation tests using simulated HLLW solutions were carried out. Pd（II） was strongly adsorbed by the AR-01 anion exchanger and effectively eluted off by using thiourea. Successful separation of Pd（ll） from simulated HLLW was achieved. Te（VII） also exhibited strong adsorption on AR-01 and could be eluted off by using U（IV） as a reductive eluent. Am（Ⅲ） presented significantly high adsorbability and selectivity onto R-BTP/SiOz-P adsorbents over various FPs including Ln（Ⅲ）. The R-BTP adsorbents were fairly stable in 3 M HNO3, but instable against 7-irradiation-3M HNO3. An advanced par- titioning process consisting of three separation columns for the target elements separation from HLLW was proposed and the obtained experiment results indicated that the proposed process is essentially feasible.

Comprehensive Utilization of Ludwigite Ore Based on Metallizing Reduction and Magnetic Separation

With the aim of high-efficiency utilization of Dandong ludwigite ore, a new process of metallizing reduction and mag- netic separation was proposed, and the effects of reduction temperature, reduction time, carbon ratio, ore size and coal size on the efficiency of the process were investigated in details, and relevant mechanisms were elucidated by SEM and EDS. The optimum technological parameters for metallizing reduction and magnetic separation on ludwigite ore were obtained as reduction tempera- ture of 1 250 ℃, reduction time of 60 min, carbon ratio of 1.4, ore size of 0.500-2.000 mm, and coal size of 0.50-1.50 mm. After adopting the optimum parameters, the iron content and recovery ratio of iron in magnetic substance are 87.78% and 88.02%, re- spectively, while the recovery ratios of boron, magnesium and silicon in non-magnetic substance are 88.86%, 94.60% and 98.66%, respectively. After metallizing reduction and magnetic separation, valuable elements of ludwigite ore could be separated and uti- lized in subsequent steelmaking process and hydrometallurgy process.

Fundamental studies for high temperature processing of tungsten leaching residues for alloy formation

The first step in the production of tungsten is to enrich tungsten from two minerals wolframite((Fe,Mn)WO_(4))and scheelite(CaWO_(4))through the leaching process.The leaching residue usually contains a certain amount(2-5 wt%)of WO_(3) which is higher than that in the tungsten ore(generally less than 1 wt%).In addition,the leaching residue may also consist of other valuable elements such as Cu,Ta,Nb,Sn,Sc,Mn and Fe.Understanding the phases and their compositions present in the residue is one of the key steps for the efficient utilization.The typical residue sample is carefully analysed by electron probe X-ray microanalysis and X-ray fluorescence.A high-temperature process,which includes pre-reduction at 1000-1100℃and smelting reduction at 1450-1500℃,is proposed to efficiently recover the valuable elements.Experimental work and thermo-dynamic calculations confirmed that most of the valuable elements can be economically recovered with optimum conditions.