Rinnovabili • Rare Earth Recovery: How to Extract Them from Permanent Magnets Rinnovabili • Rare Earth Recovery: How to Extract Them from Permanent Magnets

Here is the “sponge” that recovers rare earth elements from permanent magnets and wastewater

From Korea, a study on an innovative material to recover certain metals from rare earth elements, valuable for the electronics and automotive industries

Rare Earth Recovery: How to Extract Them from Permanent Magnets

In addition to battery production, the future of the electronics and automotive industries is heavily reliant on rare earth elements, which once again, are largely controlled by China. The EU, in fact, depends on China for 90% of its rare earth elements and 78% of its lithium.

Among the most important elements are gallium and germanium, used in semiconductors, while antimony is used in the production of military explosives. This has led to a commercial and political standoff between the US and China, with Europe caught in the middle. This was clearly highlighted in a statement from the White House last September, which stated that “critical minerals are fundamental building blocks for the modern economy and our energy security…China has monopolized the processing and refining market for critical materials, leaving the United States and its allies vulnerable to supply chain shocks and undermining economic and national security.”

From Seoul, an innovative research to recover precious metals

While the situation in the US and Europe is challenging, South Korea faces a similar dilemma, as it imports 95% of its key minerals, such as lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements. These elements, with their chemical, electrical, and magnetic properties, are highly sought after as essential materials in the automotive industry and renewable energy production.

From South Korea, however, comes an important result from a scientific experiment that could partially change this dependency. The study was conducted by the Center for Water Cycle Research at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seoul, led by Jae-Woo Choi. His research team developed a kind of “sponge” made of fibers for recovering rare earth elements, such as neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy), with a high level of efficiency.

The material developed in this study for the recovery of rare earth metals is a technology capable of replacing current granular absorption materials, showing excellent performance, productivity, cost-effectiveness, and applicability. It will revitalize the ecosystem of extracting waste minerals from digital infrastructure and has great potential for industrial application through resource recycling,” said KIST.

The innovative material for rare earth recovery

So, what exactly is this material? The researchers developed a nanostructured composite fiber material made of metal-organic structures and acrylic polymer composite fibers to efficiently recover rare earth metals. According to the Korean publication, this new material could help solve rare earth supply issues by extracting and recycling metals primarily used in third-generation permanent magnets—essential components in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicle propulsion motors, as well as in wind energy, robotics, and aerospace industries. In short, it has many central applications for the economies of advanced nations.

In the future, this technology can be scaled up to selectively recover various useful resources, including rare earths, from industrial wastewater, contributing to carbon neutrality and upstream and downstream industries related to rare earths,” added Dr. Youngkyun Jung. The team expects the material to effectively recover rare earths not only from discarded permanent magnets but also from a variety of industrial wastewater containing rare earth metals, such as mine drainage.

About Author / Editorial Team