Leaching mechanism and behavior of rare earth elements from roasted coal gangue using citric acid
Lei Zhang, Jinhe Pan, Fan Yang, Changchun Zhou, Shulan Shi, Xin He, Bin Dong, Jinpeng Feng · 2026
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Description
Zhang and colleagues investigated in 2026 how citric acid can pull rare earth elements out of roasted coal gangue, a coal mining waste that could become an alternative supply source. Rare earths are vital for electronics and clean energy. The team compared citric acid with hydrochloric acid and studied the chemistry step by step.
At the best settings, citric acid recovered about half of the total rare earths, with light rare earths reaching about 59 percent and heavy ones only about 17 percent. At the same starting acidity, citric acid beat hydrochloric acid on total recovery and held its acidity steadier. Surface and charge analyses showed the citrate binds rare earth ions only weakly. The authors conclude the acid's hydrogen ions do most of the work, which guides greener recovery designs.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Lei Zhang, Jinhe Pan, Fan Yang, Changchun Zhou, Shulan Shi, Xin He, Bin Dong, Jinpeng Feng |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 40 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |