Recovery of Nd and Dy from rare earth magnetic waste sludge by hydrometallurgical process

This paper describes a hydrometallurgical process for recovering neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) from a magnetic waste sludge generated from the Nd–Fe–B(–Dy) manufacturing process. Phase analysis by XRD study revealed Nd(OH)3 and Fe2O3 as main mineral phases, and chemical analysis by ICP showed the contents of 35.1 wt% Nd, 29.5 wt% Fe, 1.1 wt% Dy and 0.5 wt% B. A solution of 1 M HNO3 + 0.3 M H2O2 was used to dissolve up to 98 % Nd and 81 % Dy, while keeping Fe dissolution below 15 % within 10 min. Fe dissolved in solution was completely removed as Fe(OH)3 at pH 3 followed by precipitation of Nd and Dy with oxalic acid (H2C2O4) and recovered 91.5 % of Nd and 81.8 % of Dy from solution. The precipitate containing Nd and Dy was calcined at 800 °C to obtain Nd2O3 as final product with 68 % purity, and final recovery of 69.7 % Nd and 51 % of Dy was reported in this process.