LAUSR

Abstract One of the high-tech industries is glass polishing, which is associated with the release of large volumes of wastewater, a rich source of rare-earth metals, especially cerium. In this study, cerium ion recovery from glass polishing powder waste using green solvents for extraction was investigated. Reaction time, temperature, organic to aqueous ratio, extractant concentrations, and the synergistic effects of imidazolium ionic liquids and trioctylphosphine oxide and tributylphosphate as extractants were optimized. The co-extraction of lanthanum, a significant problem in extracting cerium, was reduced by enhancement of their separation factor (~ 17). The cerium-bearing organic solvent was stripped with 0.5 mol/L HNO 3 to attain a recovery of cerium by 99.98%. The ionic liquids are useful in the extraction process, enabling higher yields of cerium and reducing the consumption of acids in the stripping stage. Graphic Abstract