Competitive foam separation of rare earth elements from aqueous solutions using a cationic collector

Competitive foam separation of two rare earth elements (REEs), Eu(III) and Tb(III), are investigated in this study in presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (edta) using cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). The effects of pH, [edta]/sigma[REEs] and [CPC]/[edta] molar ratio, frother concentration, ionic strength and air-flow rate on the foam separation efficiency are also evaluated. At the optimal experimental condition, Eu(III)/Tb(III) separation factor of 141.56 is obtained. The kinetic data obtained at all the studied parameters are analyzed by the flotation first-order and second-order kinetic models. Eventually, a schematic flow-sheet for Eu(III)/Tb(III) separation is proposed.