Separation and recovery of scandium and titanium from red mud leaching liquor through a neutralization precipitation-acid leaching approach

Selective recovery of scandium and titanium from red mud leaching solution was achieved through neutralization precipitation followed by acid leaching approach. In the neutralization precipitation section, the effects of pH, temperature and reaction time on metal precipitation efficiency were investigated. Under the optimal condition, the precipitation efficiencies of scandium and titanium were 93.74% and 99.47%, respectively. In the acid leaching section, the effects of acidity, temperature, reaction time, and raffinate to acid solution ratio on leaching efficiency were investigated. Under the optimal condition, the leaching efficiencies of scandium and titanium were 99.97% and 5.44%, respectively. The loss of scandium and titanium were 6.3% and 5.9%, respectively. Compared with the traditional extraction procedure of scandium in red mud, this method could separate titanium from scandium effectively, which is beneficial for the purification of the products and improvement of value of the metal. (C) 2020 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Selective recovery of scandium and titanium from red mud leaching solution was successfully achieved through neutralization precipitation followed by acid leaching approach. High precipitation and leaching efficiencies were obtained under optimal conditions, contributing to effective separation of titanium from scandium and improvement of metal value.