title: Rare earth separations by selective borate crystallization.
abstract: Lanthanides possess similar chemical properties rendering their separation from one another a challenge of fundamental chemical and global importance given their incorporation into many advanced technologies. New separation strategies combining green chemistry with low cost and high efficiency remain highly desirable. We demonstrate that the subtle bonding differences among trivalent lanthanides can be amplified during the crystallization of borates, providing chemical recognition of specific lanthanides that originates from Ln3+coordination alterations, borate polymerization diversity and soft ligand coordination selectivity. Six distinct phases are obtained under identical reaction conditions across lanthanide series, further leading to an efficient and cost-effective separation strategy via selective crystallization. As proof of concept, Nd/Sm and Nd/Dy are used as binary models to demonstrate solid/aqueous and solid/solid separation processes. Controlling the reaction kinetics gives rise to enhanced separation efficiency of Nd/Sm system and a one-step quantitative separation of Nd/Dy with the aid of selective density-based flotation.
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xuemiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yaxing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Laboratory of Specialty Fibers and Nuclear Energy Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yumin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Lanhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Chengliang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diwu
authors.affiliation: Engineering Laboratory of Specialty Fibers and Nuclear Energy Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201, China.
authors.forename: Shiyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhifang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, 95 Chieftain Way, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Albrecht-Schmitt
authors.affiliation: School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Shuao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001881:Borates / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology / Q000379:methods*; D007700:Kinetics; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D001881:Borates; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements