Neodymium extraction using salt extraction process

The present paper deals with the feasibility of the neodymium recovery from spent Nd-Fe-B magnets using molten salt electrodeposition method. The salt bath consisted of a mixture of LiCl-KCl-NaCl corresponding to the eutectic composition. The experimental set-up with its salient features is presented. AlCl3 was used as flux and graphite rods dipped in the salt bath served as electrodes. The voltage for the electrolysis was chosen on the basis of the decomposition potential of NdCl3. The reaction sequence can be described as AlCl3 + Nd = NdCl3+Al NdCl3= Nd + 3/2 Cl-2 Iron-free neodymium deposition could be carried out successfully. In view of the proximity of the electrode potentials, the co-deposition of the aluminium and neodymium was observed to occur at the cathode, as revealed by SEM/EDS and XRD analyses of the electrodeposit.