| Abstract Scope |
Neodymium magnets (NdFeB magnets) are used in many technologies such as electric cars, windmills, or hard disk drives (HDD). Recycling the rare earth elements (REE) from waste magnets is interesting considering that their concentration is sometimes higher than in the ores from which they originate. In this study, we investigated the recovery of praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium from NdFeB magnets of HDD using focused infrared digestion (FID) and solid phase extraction (SPE). Because of its ease of use and low consumable cost, FID was investigated as a new strategy for the rapid dissolution of REE. When unmagnetized and powdered to <250 μm, REE are totally dissolved after 5 minutes with 3N H2SO4 or HCl. In magnetised and crushed form, pieces of 6x3 mm can be dissolved in less than 30 min. REE can then be isolated by SPE. Results on the dissolution and extraction will be provided. |