Neodymium Distribution between Cu-rich and Fe-rich Phases in Two Immiscible Liquids in Fe–Cu–C System

Abstract

Recovery of Nd from used products is a crucial problem to be solved for a stable supply of Nd resource. In the present work, the use of two immiscible liquids, i.e. a Cu-rich phase and an Fe-rich phase, in an Fe–Cu–C system was regarded as one of the solutions for this purpose and the distributions of Nd between two immiscible liquids in an Fe–Cu–C system were measured. We found Nd is distributed in the Cu-rich phase more than in the Fe-rich phase in an Fe–Cu–C system and Nd is more concentrated at low temperatures than at high temperatures. In addition, the thermodynamic parameters for Nd were obtained based on the experimental results.