The Use of Hypercrosslinked Polystyrene Sorbents in Extraction of Valuable Components from Nitric Acid Leach Solutions of Eudialyte Concentrate

The article describes the experimental results of using synthetic sorbents made of hypercrosslinked polystyrene copolymers with divinylbenzene and vinylpyridine for recovery and separation of valuable components (Zr,  \(\Sigma\)  REE) from pregnant solutions of nitric acid leach of eudialyte. It is found that at the stage of Zr and  \(\Sigma\)  REE recovery from pregnant solutions, the most effective are resin Puromet MTS 9500 and bifunctional strongly acidic cation exchanger Purolite C160. Regarding Puromet MTS 9500, a flowsheet of step-by-step gradient elution of the sorbent saturated with valuable component is proposed. The flowsheet enables the outlet solutions of Zr and  \(\Sigma\)  REE at the recovery of 97.7 and 81.1%, respectively. Efficient separation of REE to subgroups is reached with resin VP-3AP.