Kinetic Separation of Co from Ni, Mg, Mn, and Ca via Synergistic Solvent Extraction

The combination of LIX 63 and Versatic 10 acts synergistically for the selective extraction of nickel and cobalt from impurities of manganese, magnesium, and calcium. Nickel extraction kinetics is, however, slow relative to cobalt. The present work exploited this difference to selectively remove Co (1.0 g/L) from a Ni-rich feed solution (20 g/L) containing aforementioned impurities to achieve a raffinate Ni:Co ratio > 667. Batch testing was used to assess the effect of various factors on selective metal extraction. The selective stripping of the resulting loaded organic was also assessed. The metal selectivity properties of the organic solution did not deteriorate over five cycles.