Comparative electrochemical behavior of Prussian blue analogues as a host electrode for rare earth element recovery

In this paper, electrodeposited films belonging to the Prussian Blue Analogues (PBAs) family, namely, nickelhexacyanoferrate (NiHCF) and copper-hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF), were employed as a host material for rare earth elements (REE), and the reported insertion/release study reveals a recovery capability for such valuable metals. The ion insertion/release was accomplished by adopting an electrochemically-driven process. A reversible intercalation was observed while considering both heavy and ligth rare earth elements. The amount of REEs inserted/released over the process and its kinetic evolution during the process were also studied by a chemometric approach. For CuHCF, it was seen that the intercalation of heavy rare earth elements occurs easily respect to the light ones, suggesting a possible selectivity among these ions.

Automated summary

This paper investigates electrodeposited films (NiHCF and CuHCF) as host materials for rare earth elements (REE), showing their capability for metal recovery. The ion insertion/release process was observed to be reversible for both heavy and light REEs, and a chemometric approach was used to study the amount of REEs inserted/released and the kinetic evolution.