Greener Recovery and Separation Processes for REMs and PGMs in Various Matrices

Dear Colleagues,

Rare earth elements (REEs) and platinum group metals (PGMs) occur naturally in the earth's crust and are generally scattered in small concentration levels. According to IUPAC, REEs includes two metals of group 17 transition metals (Sc and Y) and the 15 lanthanide elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Th, Tm, Yb, and Lu). These metals are commonly dispersed or bonded with various minerals of the earth and their biggest market (80-90% REEs ores) is China. On the other hand, PGMs consists of Au, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt transition metals, which can be found in their purest elemental form. South Africa has the largest reserves of PGMs world-wide. Most importantly, these precious metals (REEs and PGMs) are referred to as industrial vitamins and treasury due to their wide technological applications. Furthermore, the demand for these precious metals is gradually increasing mainly due to the advancement in their various industrial applications. However, the mining industry is facing challenges of natural resource depletion and it is predicted that in the near future, there will be no natural sources of these metals. Therefore, several studies have been conducted to recover REEs and PGMs from secondary resources such as spent industrial catalysts, jewellery, magnets, automobile parts, electronic and industrial effluents.

This issue welcomes all the novel developments that describe recovery and separation of REEs and/or PGMs from various matrices using greener solvents (ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents) and bio-adsorbents. The rationale of using greener solvents and material is based on the implementation of Green Chemistry, which was first reported in the early 1990s. Therefore, development of effective greener processes for recovery and separation of precious elements is urgently required, in order to meet global challenges associated with metal sustainability and to improve industrial economy.

Dr. Nomvano Mketo
Prof. Dr. Philiswa Nosizo Nomngongo
Guest Editors

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