info terbium

Chemical Element:

Information: Terbium

Known Methods of Extraction

Perfect 👍 — next in **periodic table order** is **Terbium (Tb, atomic number 65).** Terbium is a **lanthanide (rare earth metal)** that occurs primarily in **monazite (Ce,La,Tb,Th)PO₄** and **bastnäsite (Ce,La,Tb)(CO₃)F**. Industrial extraction involves **acid or alkaline digestion, solvent extraction, and reduction**. Here are the **20 most common methods of extracting Terbium**: --- # **20 Most Common Methods of Extracting Terbium** ### **A. Extraction from Rare Earth Ores** 1. **Crushing and Grinding of Monazite or Bastnäsite** – Prepares ore for chemical treatment. 2. **Acid Digestion (H₂SO₄ or HCl) of Monazite** – Dissolves terbium and other REEs. 3. **Alkaline Digestion (NaOH) of Monazite** – Converts phosphate to soluble terbium salts. 4. **Leaching of Bastnäsite with Acid or Alkali** – Produces soluble terbium compounds. 5. **Purification by Precipitation of Thorium and Other Impurities** – Removes radioactive and heavy elements. 6. **Solvent Extraction of Terbium Salts** – Organophosphorus extractants separate Tb³⁺ from other REEs. --- ### **B. Separation and Concentration** 7. **Ion Exchange Separation of Terbium** – Separates Tb³⁺ from lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium. 8. **Fractional Precipitation Using Oxalates or Hydroxides** – Concentrates terbium from mixed REE solutions. 9. **Conversion to Terbium Carbonate (Tb₂(CO₃)₃)** – Precursor for oxide formation. 10. **Calcination to Terbium Oxide (Tb₄O₇ or Tb₂O₃)** – Prepares for reduction or industrial use. 11. **Selective Solvent Extraction from Mixed REE Solutions** – Enhances separation efficiency. 12. **Chelating Agent Separation** – Laboratory or pilot-scale selective extraction. --- ### **C. Reduction to Metallic Terbium** 13. **Calciothermic or Metallothermic Reduction of Tb₂O₃ → Tb** – Main industrial method. 14. **Electrolytic Reduction of Molten TbCl₃** – Produces high-purity metallic terbium. 15. **Vacuum Distillation of Metallic Terbium** – Purification for ultra-high purity Tb. 16. **Hydrogen Reduction of Terbium Halides** – Laboratory-scale method. --- ### **D. Recovery from Byproducts / Secondary Sources** 17. **Recovery from Monazite Sands during Thorium Extraction** – Terbium collected as a byproduct. 18. **Recovery from Bastnäsite Refining** – Tb separated during extraction of other REEs. 19. **Recovery from Spent Rare Earth Catalysts** – Leaching + precipitation. 20. **Recovery from Recycled Electronics Containing REEs** – Hydrometallurgical extraction. --- ✅ **Summary:** * **Main industrial sources:** Monazite, bastnäsite. * **Primary extraction steps:** Ore crushing → acid/alkaline digestion → purification → selective precipitation → reduction/electrolysis → metallic terbium. * **Metallic terbium:** Produced via calciothermic/metallothermic reduction or molten salt electrolysis. * **Byproduct sources:** Thorium extraction residues, bastnäsite processing, spent REE catalysts, recycled electronics. * **Laboratory/experimental:** Ion exchange, selective solvent extraction, vacuum distillation, hydrogen reduction. --- Next in periodic order is \*\*Dysprosium (Dy, atomic number 66). Do you want me to continue with **20 extraction methods for Dysprosium**?