The Extraction of Rare-Earth Elements (REEs) from Spent Nickel–Metal Hydride (Ni–MH) Batteries by Bifunctional Ionic Liquids (Bif-ILs): Process Optimization and Kinetics Modeling

The cathode material of nickel–metal hydride (Ni–MH) batteries includes nickel, cobalt, and rare-earth elements (REEs) such as La, Ce, Nd, and Pr, which are among the critical raw materials (CRMs). Ionic liquids as the environmentally friendly approaches are proposed by various investigations for the extraction of critical metals from spent Ni–MH batteries. In this study, three different Bifunctional Ionic Liquids (Bif-ILs) were designed for comparative studies, namely Aliquat 336–Cyanex 272 (AL–CY), Aliquat 336–PC88A (AL–PC), and Aliquat 336–D2EHPA (AL–D2). The extraction results indicated that temperature has a direct effect on the extraction of critical metals in the presence of all Bif-ILs. Among three types of Bif-ILs, AL–D2 has an optimal extraction power (La: 98.8%, Ce: 94.2%, Nd: 99.2%, and Pr: 98.4%) after precipitation of 99.99% of Ni and Co. Furthermore, kinetics modeling is used for reaction mechanisms investigation. Results indicated that the mixed controlled model by shrinking core model (diffusion controlled and chemical reaction controlled) was the best model fitted to all data (coefficient of determination (R2) > 0.90). according to the Arrhenius equation, activation energies for all REEs in the presence of all Bif-ILs are between 13 and 42 kJ/mol that reflects a mixed controlled reaction.