In the current research, the feasibility of the recovery of neodymium and dysprosium from spent NdFeB magnets (about 6wt% Dy) was investigated using molten salt processes. The salt bath consisted of a eutectic composition of an NaCl-KCl-LiCl mixture. To enable the efficient dissolution of metal in the molten salt phase, AlCl3 was used as a chlorinating agent. Iron-free electrodeposition was carried out successfully. Energy-dispersive spectroscopic analysis of the electrodeposit revealed that co-deposition of the dysprosium occurs along with neodymium at the cathode. The process shows that this method is well suited for recovering rare earth metals from magnetic scrap containing these metals.Furthermore, the setup design for recovery of neodymium and dysprosium from their oxides was investigated with regard to previous studies on the neodymium magnets. The stability of different fluoride and chloride salts was studied by means of thermodynamic calculation. Aluminum fluoride-based molten salt systems were studied in detail as the electrolyte for electrochemical extraction of rare earth oxides into rare earth metal elements with Al.
Part of ISBN 978-012802328-0, 978-012802568-0
QC 20241210