Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Chemistry) / Rare earth elements (REEs) have widespread use and importance for industrial
applications due to their metallurgical, optical and electronic properties. Several
typical hydrometallurgical techniques such as adsorption, chemical precipitation,
filtration, ion exchange and solvent extraction techniques have been used for
separation and recovery of the rare earth metals from aqueous solutions. Adsorption
was recognised as one of the most promising methods due to its simplicity, high
efficiency and availability. Many adsorbents are being investigated but there are few
adsorbents containing specific functional groups in practical use for REEs recovery.
This aim of this study was to develop a nanofibre based adsorbent containing
glycolic acid functional groups for the recovery of rare earth metals. Polystyrene (PS)
and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofibres were prepared by the
electrospinning technique, glycolic acid functional groups were grafted onto the PS
or PET nanofibres and the potential of the two modified nanofibre adsorbents for
adsorption of Ce3+ or Nd3+ from aqueous solution were investigated and compared.
The adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of different
adsorption parameters such as pH, contact time and initial concentration in a batch
system in order to achieve the objectives of this research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/6393 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Pereao, Omoniyi Kolawole |
| Contributors | Petrik, Leslie |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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