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2025 Vol.57, Issue 2 Preview Page

Original Paper

Preparation of Biobased Porous Hydrogels by Citric Acid Grafted Polyacrylic Acid for Rare Earth Elements Separation
Bo He1
,
Wenchao Xiang23†
,
Wenjing Li45
,
Ming He6‡
,
Liangrong Yang78
,
Chao Yang78
,
Guihua Yang9§
1Graduate Student, State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology
2Associate Researcher, State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
3Associate Researcher, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Science
4Doctoral Student, State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
5Doctoral Student, School of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology
6Associate Professor, State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology
7Researcher, State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
8Researcher, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Science
9Professor, State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology
†Corresponding Author: E-mail: xiangwenchao@ipe.ac.cn (Address: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Molecular & Process Engineering, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China)
‡Corresponding Author: E-mail: heming8916@qlu.edu.cn (Address: State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, 250353, China)
§Corresponding Author: E-mail: ygh@qlu.edu.cn (Address: State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, 250353, China)
30 April 2025. pp. 29-45
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Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential for advanced technologies such as energy, electronics, and aerospace. Efficient separation of REEs is critical for the full utilization of natural limited resources. To obtain biobased absorbents with large adsorption capacity, high selectivity, and good reusability, a larger surface area and functionalized surface of absorbents are required. In this work, the porous PAA-CA (citric acid-grafted polyacrylic acid) hydrogels were prepared using a high internal phase emulsion templating method. The physical and chemical properties of PAA-CA were characterized by FTIR, XPS, and SEM. The influence of pH, temperature, initial concentration, and contact time on the adsorption capacity of Pr3+ (light REE) and Er3+ (heavy REE) was investigated and analyzed. The results show that PAA-CA hydrogels exhibited good adsorption performance with a better adsorption capacity for Er3+ of around 400 mg/g. The adsorption process was pH-dependent, with optimal adsorption at pH = 3–7. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order model, while thermodynamic analyses confirmed the process was spontaneous and endothermic. PAA-CA exhibited good selectivity for Er3+ in a binary ion system, especially containing K+ or Fe3+. Furthermore, the hydrogels retained high adsorption capacities across 10 adsorption-desorption cycles, highlighting their excellent reusability. These results suggest that porous PAA-CA hydrogels are promising materials for the selective recovery of REEs from aqueous solutions.

Keywords
Rare earth elements
high internal phase emulsion
adsorption
selectivity
reusability
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Information
  • Publisher :Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국펄프종이공학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korea TAPPI
  • Journal Title(Ko) :펄프종이기술
  • Volume : 57
  • No :2
  • Pages :29-45
  • Received Date : 2025-03-14
  • Revised Date : 2025-04-02
  • Accepted Date : 2025-04-04
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7584/JKTAPPI.2025.4.57.2.29
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