TITLE: “Emerging technologies for the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from the end-of-life electronic

wastes: a review on progress, challenges, and perspectives ”

AUTHOR(DATE):

Teklit Gebregiorgis Ambaye, Mentore Vaccari, Francine Duarte Castro, Shiv Prasad, Sami Rtimi (2020)

REVIEWED BY:

SUBMITTED TO: SECTION CODE:

SUMMARY:

The need for rare earth elements (REEs) has skyrocketed in recent years as a direct result

of the crucial roles that these elements play in the integrated circuits that make up modern

technology. However, the widespread implementation of high-tech applications in our day-to-day

lives as well as the depletion of their parent ores have made it necessary to recover REEs from

secondary sources in the present day. In recent years, rare earth elements (REEs) have gained the

attention of politicians as well as scientists, who are working to develop innovative recovery

technologies to ensure the supply of materials remains sustainable. In this work, a summary of

current advances in the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) employing various developing

technologies such as bioleaching, biosorption, cryo-milling, electrochemical processes and

nanomaterials, siderophores, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, and supercritical CO2 is provided.

The difficulties that this recovery is going to have to overcome are dissected in great detail, and

some potential solutions are provided. The economic and engineering issues of the recovery of rare
earth elements from used electrical and electronic equipment are also brought to light by this

effort (WEEE). In conclusion, the findings of this research indicate that environmentally friendly and

low chemical consumption technologies, such as siderophores and electrochemical procedures,

have the potential to be successful in the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) that are present in

trace amounts. The utilization of these technologies on a more extensive scale is also a possibility.

This article provides an in-depth discussion of the most recent technology, as well as future

difficulties and opportunities, for the effective recovery of rare earth elements from secondary

sources, such as a variety of electronic wastes that have reached the end of their useful lives. In

addition to this, it provides a synopsis of the engineering and economic aspects of both traditional

and new separation and recovery technologies for WEEE, paying particular emphasis to the

question of how they affect the overall sustainability of the industry.

Background of the Study

The use of rare earth elements (REEs) can be found in a wide variety of everyday

applications. Because of their one-of-a-kind physicochemical features, rare earth elements (REEs)

can be utilized in a variety of diverse industries, including metallurgy, optical/magnetic/chemical

engineering, high-temperature superconductors, laser materials, secondary batteries, and

luminescence. They are necessary for the production of a variety of goods, including catalysts,

magnets, alloys, and phosphors, among other things. The extremely low amount of REEs contained

in each individual device is one of the major obstacles that must be overcome in order to

successfully recycle electronic waste. It is possible that this will give people the incorrect
impression that collecting REEs from WEEE is not profitable. The inability to develop an adequate

design has a negative impact on the recovery efficiency (Wang et al. 2016). The recovery of rare

earth elements (REEs) from electronic wastes (such as fluorescent lamps, magnets, NiMH batteries,

mobile phones, and others) has been the subject of much research over the past few decades. This

research has shown that around 99 percent of REEs may be recovered.

The term "rare earth elements" refers to a collection of 17 different metals that can be

found in nature. This collection includes 15 different lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium. They can

be separated into two categories: light rare earth, which contains elements such as cerium (Ce),

lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), and samarium (Sm), and heavy rare earth,

which includes elements such as dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd),

holmium (Ho), lutetium (L (Y). The deposits of bastnaesite, monazite, xenotime, and ion adsorption

clays can all be mined for rare earth elements (REEs). China is the leading producer of rare earth

elements (REEs). In 2018, the United States was totally dependent on net imports of rare earth

compounds, with 80 percent of those imports coming from China and totaling 160 million dollars.

The costs are extremely variable depending on the component. For instance, the cost of one ton of

Ce2O3 is approximately US$1,500. Rare earth elements are utilized in a wide variety of ways in our

day-to-day lives. Because of their one-of-a-kind physicochemical features, rare earth elements

(REEs) can be utilized in a variety of diverse industries, including metallurgy,

optical/magnetic/chemical engineering, high-temperature superconductors, laser materials,

secondary batteries, and luminescence.

Theoretical Background

Using membrane-assisted solvent extraction in a 120-hour run, a number of researchers were

successful in recovering rare earth elements (REEs) such as Nd, Pr, and Dy from industrial waste magnets

and industrial NdFeB magnets without the participation of any other types of rare earth elements. There

have been reports of findings that are comparable. pertaining to garbage electronic devices. Some firms

in the electrical and chemical industries are working together to create procedures and processes for

the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from electronic trash that have a high purity and efficiency. It

has also been claimed that this mature method has a number of noteworthy advantages, including a low

environmental imprint, which promotes shorter lead time, as well as a cheaper source when compared

with the primary manufacture of the electronic material. Utilizing sorbents for solid-phase extraction or

liquid-liquid extraction operations in a column or batch system is one of the most common ways that

any of these methods can be utilized for the purpose of recycling electronic trash. In addition, the

recovery of these elements from electronic trash, such as the metal alloys found in magnets, requires a

more specialized approach than the methods that have been discussed so far. Additionally, there is a

requirement to build recycling policies for products as well as other networks that can guarantee the

quality, cost-effectiveness, and recovery of rare earth elements (REEs). In addition to this, it is of the

utmost importance to formulate plans and methods for the conservation of REEs. In general, in order to

implement REEs recovery on a wide scale, several obstacles need to be addressed in the future, and this

will require some unique and sustainable recycling procedures to be developed.

Therefore, there are fundamental ideas that proved useful to them during the course of their

research, such as the recycling of electronic waste. In which case, these are complicated due to the

presence of oxides, metals, non-metals, and polymeric components, which makes the process of

separating them and recovering them extremely difficult.

Materials & Equipment

In order to bring the evaluated paper into clearer focus, it was chosen to collect the

thoughts that were discussed in the article concerning the. The recuperation of rare earth

elements (REEs) is the primary focus of the recycling of electronic trash. Bioleaching,

biosorption, siderophores, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, and the usage of carbon-based

materials are the techniques that are utilized in the recovery and separation of rare earth

elements (REEs). Every approach and course of action comes with a unique set of benefits and

drawbacks. In this part of the article, several strategies and procedures for extracting REE from

discarded electronic equipment are broken down and explored.

Utilizing microorganisms such as extremophiles, moderately thermophilic bacteria, and

mesophiles, bioleaching is an efficient method for recovering metals from both primary and

secondary sources. It is utilized extensively in the industrial process of extracting metals from

their ores, particularly molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), cobalt

(Co), antimony (Sb), gallium (Ga), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and osmium (Os).

Due to its one-of-a-kind properties, such as high recovery efficiency for metals in low

concentration, high regeneration, fast kinetics, and non-generation of secondary residues,

biosorption is one of the modern biological methods that gets the most attention in the field of

recovering metals from electronic waste. This is because biosorption is one of the modern

biological methods that get the most attention.

 It is cost-effective, can be efficiently operated and used in situ, demonstrates great

effectiveness in the removal of contaminants from aqueous solution, and does not produce any

chemical sludge. These are just some of the benefits that it offers.

Microorganisms such as bacteria, fungus, and grasses are responsible for secreting

siderophores, which are tiny molecules with a high affinity for chelating iron. In order to fulfill

the requirements of the microorganism's metabolic processes, the chelator molecules are

created to actively seek out and acquire iron+3 from the surrounding environment. They are

widely acknowledged as being the most effective ligands for ferric ions.

Pyrometallurgy is one of the recognized thermal treatments that can be utilized for the

recovery of metals from electronic waste. Other thermal treatments include pyrolysis and

hydrothermal treatment. This method includes smelting in a plasma arc furnace, blast furnace,

or copper smelter as well as incineration and high heat roasting in the presence of selected

gases. The end goal of this process is to recover primarily nonferrous metals. Additionally, a

significant amount of energy is required to complete this operation. However, it has a high

efficiency for recovering specific REEs from electronic wastes, which is a significant advantage.

One of the chemical processes that can be utilized for the recovery of metals from

discarded electronic components is called hydrometallurgy. Chloride solution is used in this

procedure for the purpose of extracting rare earth elements (REEs) such as gadolinium, yttrium,

and lanthanum from electronic waste. It has been stated that recovering these elements from

electronic trash has certain challenges, including the production of sludge, the pollution caused

by heavy metals, and the toxicity of the process. demonstrated that hydrometallurgical
techniques were capable of achieving great levels of effectiveness in the recovery of metals

from printed circuit boards. They have also noted that this technology has several limitations,

such as the fact that it can only recover the metals lithium and cobalt and not any other metals.

There are two stages involved in the process of employing hydrometallurgy to recover rare

earth elements (REE) metals from electronic waste. The first thing that needs to be done is to

use mineral acids to extract metals from old electrical garbage.

Methodology

The research was done to create an understanding on the extrzctiong of the rare earth

elements. Due to the fact that there are certain environmental problems if not controlled. The

research focused on collecting data from existing sources via other scholarly papers. Making

this study an example of secondary source paper as for the mentioned reason. The paper talked

about Hydrometallurgical operations: Leaching, Leaching technologies used for primary and

secondary resources, Solvent extraction, Chloride solution, and etc.

In order to have a better understanding of the extraction process for rare earth

elements, this research was carried out. Because if some environmental problems aren't

controlled, there will be more of them in the future. The primary emphasis of the study was on

gathering information from previously collected sources in the form of other scholarly papers.

This study will serve as an example of a paper based on a secondary source because of the

reasons indicated above. In the study, we discussed several hydrometallurgical processes, such
as leaching, the many leaching technologies that are used for primary and secondary resources,

solvent extraction, chloride solution, and other related topics.

Results and Discussion

This review paper focuses on the future outlook for the recovery of rare earth elements

(REEs) from wastes of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), the amount of which is

growing at an alarming rate all over the world. The recent development of a variety of cutting-

edge methods for the efficient and environmentally friendly recovery of rare earth elements

(REEs) from electronic waste is gaining the attention of policymakers and scientists. This paper

also highlights the research progress on various efficient processes for the recovery of metals

from electronic wastes through bioleaching, biosorption, siderophores, hydrometallurgy,

pyrometallurgy, and carbon-based material. These processes include bioleaching, biosorption,

hydrometallurgy, and pyrometallurgy. In addition to this, the right application of these

technologies can not only assist in the accomplishment of sustainable development goals, but

they can also contribute to the maintenance of a balance between social, economic, and

environmental sustainability. The most widely used technologies for secondary treatment of

WEEE are pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, respectively.

The primary goal of the physical separation process is to segregate the materials and

maximize the benefit of WEEE based on the size of the items being recycled while maintaining a

low cost. The different conductivities, specific gravities, brittleness, hydrophobicities of the

phases, and magnetic susceptibilities of the phases are taken into account during the physical
separation process. For example, magnetic separation can be utilized to extract and isolate

ferrous metals from electronic trash in the form of a magnetic fraction, as depicted in figure 1.

Fig. 1 Integrated pre-treatment methodology for WEEE

The primary goal of the physical separation process is to segregate the materials and

maximize the benefit of WEEE based on the size of the items being recycled while maintaining a

low cost. The different conductivities, specific gravities, brittleness, hydrophobicities of the
phases, and magnetic susceptibilities of the phases are taken into account during the physical

separation process. For example, magnetic separation can be utilized to extract and isolate

ferrous metals from electronic waste in the form of a magnetic fraction, as the illustration

above demonstrates. The classification of air can be used to differentiate between materials

such as fine plastics and fluffy substances. Eddy current can also be used to distinguish light

metals from heavy non-ferrous metals and non-metallic fraction. These light metals have a

higher conductivity to density ratio than the heavy non-ferrous metals. By applying the process

of electrostatic separation in this way, they can be retrieved based on the conductivity of their

components. In general, the metals and REEs that can be found in electronic trash can be

separated making use of the difference in density as well as particular gravity separation

techniques such as jigging, media separation, and shaking tables. These techniques are

examples of gravity separation. On the other hand, the efficiency of the physical process could

deteriorate as the size of the fractions gets smaller since various fractions have distinct physical

qualities. Table 1 displays a few of the physical separation methods that can be used for the

recycling of WEEE to recover metals.

Conclusion

The main purpose of making this research is to define that REE are the elements that

have become incredibly significant to our world of technology due to their one-of-a-kind

magnetic, phosphorescent, and catalytic capabilities. This importance can be attributed to the

fact that REE have these qualities. These components are essential for a wide variety of

technological advancements, from LED light bulbs and wind turbines to cellular phones and

televisions. Information’s such as the reviewed article can assist us in mitigating the effects of

the urban mining we are dealing with.