Yttrium separation by phosphorylcarboxylic acid and the underlying tetrad effect along lanthanide unveiled from different microscopic interactions.

ABSTRACT: Due to similar physical and chemical properties, separating and purifying rare earth elements is challenging. Considering the environmental issue, the design and synthesis of efficient and green extractants are significant for this purpose. To this end, the underlying complexation between rare earth and the extractant should be clarified, and the long-historically existing tetrad effect along with the lanthanide family from La to Lu due to the different 4f orbital occupations should be figured out. Thus, within this study, taking our newly experimentally synthesized extractant, phosphorylcarboxylic acid, as an example and utilizing accurate quantum mechanical calculation, we comprehensively investigated the complexation behavior between rare earth and the extractant via the quantum theory

SUBMITTER: Zhang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12327835 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature