Water-additives on the electrochemical REM production in ionic liquid system

CMI researchers at Idaho National Laboratory conducted the research for this highlight

Voltammetry of Dy(OTf)3 in BMPyOTf at two different water contents.
Voltammetry of Dy(OTf)3 in BMPyOTf at two different water contents.

Innovation
Designing ionic liquid-water system for electrochemical rare earth metal (REM) production 

Achievements

  • Reduce energy for reduction by altering coordination environment
  • Improve nucleation, deposition rates and faradaic efficiency (FE)
  • However, system robustness decreased, as voltammetry and product analyses show instability and limited purity of REM product

Significance and Impact

  • Water promotes and mitigate effectiveness of electrochemical production of REM.
  • Recommend specific TEA and further development of innovative strategies to take advantage of beneficial RE speciation afforded by inclusion of additives.

Hub Target Addressed
Low temperature electrochemical rare earth metals production 

Graph with bars that show show FE and points that show chronoamperometric current densities for Dy(OTf)3 reduction in BMPyOTf at different water contents. 
Bars show show FE and points show chronoamperometric current densities for Dy(OTf)3 reduction in BMPyOTf at different water contents.