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Metals
Special Issues
Recovery of Critical Metals and Materials from Residues
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Recovery of Critical Metals and Materials from Residues

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2024) | Viewed by 9914

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Fernando Castro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade do Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: wastes; extraction metallurgy; recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In 2020, the European Commission defined a list of critical raw materials, including 30 materials that are considered critical for sustainable and economic reasons. Most of these critical materials are metals, but some of them are minerals or compounds, such as phosphates, fluorspar, borates, and also coke and rubber. Several types of residues may contain some of these critical materials in their composition, making them potential ores for their recovery.

This Special Issue aims to address research on processes for the recovery of critical metals and materials from residues and related streams. This includes residues from industry, from animal-derived byproducts, and from municipal wastes, in both solid and liquid forms. Research may also consider activities related to the characterization of residues, when devoted to developing extraction processes. It may also address the economic and environmental evaluation of processes with the goal of recovering critical raw materials from residues.

Prof. Dr. Fernando Castro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • critical materials
  • critical metals
  • extraction
  • residues
  • hydrometallurgy
  • pyrometallurgy
  • circular economy
  • recovery

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 9070 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Stainless Steel Spent Pickling Sludge and Prospects for Its Valorization
by Fernando Castro, Pedro B. Tavares, Nuno Cristelo, Tiago Teixeira, Joana F. Garcia and Nuno M. G. Parreira
Metals 2022, 12(9), 1539; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12091539 - 17 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2196
Abstract
Fluorspar is considered a critical raw material for the European Union, due to its industrial uses and lack of sufficient extraction in European countries. It is a source for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, this latter chemical being employed, among other uses, in the pickling [...] Read more.
Fluorspar is considered a critical raw material for the European Union, due to its industrial uses and lack of sufficient extraction in European countries. It is a source for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, this latter chemical being employed, among other uses, in the pickling of stainless steels. From this latter activity, sludge is generated due to the need for used water treatment. In this article, we report a full characterization of this residue, obtained in an industrial plant in Vieira de Leiria, Portugal. Its chemical and mineralogical characteristics were determined, showing that it is mostly a mixture of calcium fluoride and calcium sulfate with some heavy metals content. Thermal behavior allowed us to determine that the material melts at around 950 °C. The influence of calcining operation on the residue was determined, especially concerned with the leachability of some elements. Taking into account the results of the characterization of this residue, some considerations are presented about the potential for the valorization of this industrial residue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recovery of Critical Metals and Materials from Residues)
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Review

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25 pages, 5363 KiB  
Review
Green and Sustainable Rare Earth Element Recycling and Reuse from End-of-Life Permanent Magnets
by Zara Cherkezova-Zheleva, Marian Burada, Anca Elena Sobetkii (Slobozeanu), Daniela Paneva, Sabina Andreea Fironda and Radu-Robert Piticescu
Metals 2024, 14(6), 658; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14060658 - 1 Jun 2024
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3984
Abstract
Rare earth elements (REEs) are key materials for the development of renewable energy devices such as high-power magnets for wind turbines, electric vehicles, or fuel cells for hydrogen generation, aiming to fulfill the objectives of the European Green Deal for a carbon-neutral economy. [...] Read more.
Rare earth elements (REEs) are key materials for the development of renewable energy devices such as high-power magnets for wind turbines, electric vehicles, or fuel cells for hydrogen generation, aiming to fulfill the objectives of the European Green Deal for a carbon-neutral economy. The increased demand for REEs and their criticality strongly require the improvement of their extraction technologies from primary resources and the enhancement of their circularity reuse rate from secondary resources. The aim of this paper is to focus attention on the possibilities offered by emerging methods such as microwave (MW) treatment and mechanochemistry in waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) processing and the reuse of end-of-life (EoL) magnets, directed toward the tailoring of rational REE material flows. The discussed investigation examples explore some key features of conventional and new methods for efficient, environmentally friendly, and scalable REE extraction and reuse, with the final goal of producing recycled NdFeB powders, with potential use in the redesign and fabrication of new REE-based magnets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recovery of Critical Metals and Materials from Residues)
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25 pages, 5093 KiB  
Review
Efficient Metal Extraction from Dilute Solutions: A Review of Novel Selective Separation Methods and Their Applications
by Soroush Rahmati, Roshanak Adavodi, Mohammad Raouf Hosseini and Francesco Veglio’
Metals 2024, 14(6), 605; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14060605 - 21 May 2024
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2994
Abstract
Notable increases in metal consumption and declining ore grades in recent decades have stressed the significance of dilute solutions as secondary sources of valuable metals. Moreover, environmental considerations and the imperative of sustainable development have further emphasized their treatment. Therefore, finding an efficient [...] Read more.
Notable increases in metal consumption and declining ore grades in recent decades have stressed the significance of dilute solutions as secondary sources of valuable metals. Moreover, environmental considerations and the imperative of sustainable development have further emphasized their treatment. Therefore, finding an efficient solution for separating metals from dilute solutions has attracted the attention of numerous researchers. This paper reviews the purification processes of dilute solutions and highlights key achievements of published research works. Although this study focuses on evaluating the efficiency of recently developed aqueous-phase purification methods, such as immobilized ligands, ionic liquids, and air-assisted solvent extraction, the application of conventional processes to treat these solutions, such as solvent extraction, ion exchange, membranes, chemical precipitation, and adsorption are also briefly outlined. To provide a comprehensive assessment, more than 200 research articles were reviewed, and their key findings are stated in this study. This research contributes to the advancement of knowledge of metal recovery from dilute solutions and sheds light on the dynamic evolution of this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recovery of Critical Metals and Materials from Residues)
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