Effect of DGA substituent structure on rare earth extraction in nitric acid media

Abstract N substitutent group structure has great influence on the extraction and separation ability of amide extractant. In this paper, four different extractants with different structures, namely TODGA (N,N,N’,N’-tetraoctyl-3-oxa-diglycolamide), T2EHDGA (N,N,N’,N’-tetraisooctyl-3-oxa-diglycolamide), DPDODGA (N,N’-dipropyl-N,N’-dioctyl-3-oxa-diglycolamide) and DIPDODGA (N,N’-diisopropyl-N,N’-dioctyl-3-oxa-diglycol-amide) were investigated. The extraction ability of rare earth elements in nitric acid system was investigated to understand the relationship between chemical structure of the extractant and the extraction and separation properties of rare earth ions. The effects of nitric acid acidity, rare earth metal ion concentration and extractant concentration on the extraction were also investigated.