Washington: At present, there is a different war going on all over the world regarding rare earth elements. These elements are used in everything from smartphones to electric cars and fighter jets. Till now, China has had a monopoly on this market. But now American scientists have made a discovery that can change the equation of the global market. Researchers at Northeastern University have found a very effective way to extract these elements from the waste generated from coal mining i.e. ‘coal tailings’. This new technology is said to be three times more efficient than the old methods.
Will coal waste become the new gold for America?
There is a huge amount of waste accumulated near the coal mines in America which is considered a threat to the environment. It is estimated that about 600 kilotons of rare earth elements can be extracted from every 1.5 billion tonnes of waste. Till now this waste was used only for making building material or dumping it. Scientists have now cleared the way for extracting precious elements from these useless stones and debris. This discovery is no less than a jackpot for America because it has huge reserves of coal waste.
How does this combination of microwave and chemicals work?
Mainly two big steps have been included in this new process.
- In the first step, coal waste is put in an alkaline solution and heated in a microwave.
- The rare earth elements are then separated from the rest of the rock using nitric acid treatment.
According to researchers, microwave heating and alkaline treatment change the internal structure of the stone. Due to this the stone becomes porous and it becomes easy to take out the elements through acid. In earlier techniques, it was very difficult to separate these elements from soil minerals.
Researchers said that it may be difficult to scale-up the process described in the study. (Image: Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University)
Will neodymium shortages become a thing of the past?
One of the most important elements that comes out of this process is neodymium. It is an element that is used in high-strength magnets, electric car motors and wind turbines. The demand for neodymium is continuously increasing in the world moving towards green technology.
If America is successful in increasing domestic production of neodymium through this technology, then it will not have to depend on any other country for the supply chain. This will directly strengthen America’s economy and national security.
Is it possible to implement this technology on a large scale?
Even though this discovery looks very impressive, it also faces some challenges. This process is currently very expensive and implementing it in factories on a large scale is a big task. Apart from this, the composition of coal waste is different in different states, due to which changes may have to be made in the process everywhere.
