18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation
Abstract The rare earth elements are critically important for a wide range of modern technologies. However, obtaining them selectively and efficiently from natural sources and recycled materials is challenging and often requires harsh or wasteful conditions. Here we show that a macrocyclic chelator...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Communications Chemistry |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01565-4 |
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| _version_ | 1850224011518148608 |
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| author | Yangyang Gao Kate Ivanovich Sean Medin Brooke Pian Samantha N. MacMillan Alexa M. Schmitz Justin J. Wilson |
| author_facet | Yangyang Gao Kate Ivanovich Sean Medin Brooke Pian Samantha N. MacMillan Alexa M. Schmitz Justin J. Wilson |
| author_sort | Yangyang Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The rare earth elements are critically important for a wide range of modern technologies. However, obtaining them selectively and efficiently from natural sources and recycled materials is challenging and often requires harsh or wasteful conditions. Here we show that a macrocyclic chelator appended to a solid resin can overcome this challenge by acting as a robust platform for both the extraction and separation of these elements. This resin preferably captures the large rare earth elements in mixtures of these ions, giving rise to higher extraction efficiencies for them over the smaller ions. We further demonstrate that this resin can be used to separate rare earth elements. As a proof-of-principle validation, this resin was demonstrated to selectively extract rare earth elements in the presence of many different types of competing metal ions in a bioleachate solution obtained from autoslag waste, leading to their enrichment. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e32b67c36d6b4e1da7a082cd836a6360 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2399-3669 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Chemistry |
| spelling | doaj-art-e32b67c36d6b4e1da7a082cd836a63602025-08-20T02:05:45ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Chemistry2399-36692025-06-018111410.1038/s42004-025-01565-418-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separationYangyang Gao0Kate Ivanovich1Sean Medin2Brooke Pian3Samantha N. MacMillan4Alexa M. Schmitz5Justin J. Wilson6Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa BarbaraREEgen Inc.REEgen Inc.REEgen Inc.Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Cornell UniversityREEgen Inc.Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa BarbaraAbstract The rare earth elements are critically important for a wide range of modern technologies. However, obtaining them selectively and efficiently from natural sources and recycled materials is challenging and often requires harsh or wasteful conditions. Here we show that a macrocyclic chelator appended to a solid resin can overcome this challenge by acting as a robust platform for both the extraction and separation of these elements. This resin preferably captures the large rare earth elements in mixtures of these ions, giving rise to higher extraction efficiencies for them over the smaller ions. We further demonstrate that this resin can be used to separate rare earth elements. As a proof-of-principle validation, this resin was demonstrated to selectively extract rare earth elements in the presence of many different types of competing metal ions in a bioleachate solution obtained from autoslag waste, leading to their enrichment.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01565-4 |
| spellingShingle | Yangyang Gao Kate Ivanovich Sean Medin Brooke Pian Samantha N. MacMillan Alexa M. Schmitz Justin J. Wilson 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation Communications Chemistry |
| title | 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| title_full | 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| title_fullStr | 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| title_full_unstemmed | 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| title_short | 18-membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| title_sort | 18 membered macrocycle appended on resin for selective rare earth element extraction and separation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01565-4 |
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