Separation of Light Rare-Earth Elements Using Gas-Pressurized Extraction Chromatography

Abstract

A new method for chemical separation of light rare-earth elements (LREEs) using gas-pressurized extraction chromatography (GPEC) is described. GPEC is a microscale column chromatography system that features a constant flow of solvents, which is created by pressurized nitrogen gas. The separation column with a Teflon tubing was packed with LN resin. The proposed GPEC method facilitates production of lesser chemical wastes and faster separation owing to the use of low solvent volume compared to traditional column chromatography. We evaluated the separation of Ba, La, Ce, and Nd using various elution solvents. The column reproducibility of the proposed GPEC system ranged from 2.4% to 4.9% with RSDs of recoveries, and the column-to-column reproducibility ranged from 3.1% to 6.3% with RSDs of recoveries. The proposed technique is robust, and it can be useful for the fast separation of LREEs. © Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry.