Thorium metal-organic framework crystallization for efficient recovery from rare earth element mixtures.

ABSTRACT: Rare earth (RE) elements are critical materials that underpin many modern technologies, particularly in the clean energy industry. Despite their importance, these vital resources are difficult to obtain due to the presence of numerous metals and radioactive contaminants, such as thorium, that are present in RE ores. Current processing methods, which are dominated by homogeneous solvent extraction, are inefficient and produce substantial hazardous waste. In this work, we describe an alternative strategy to separate thorium from REs through metal-organic framework (MOF) crystallization. Starting from a mixture of thorium and rare earth ions in solution, we utilize the simple carboxylate ligand trimesic acid to selectively crystallize a novel thorium MOF, NU-2500, leaving the remaining rare e

SUBMITTER: Gaidimas MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11783090 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature