Reclaiming Rare Earth Elements

Rare earth elements are vital to the production of a variety of technologies, including the drive units and motors of electric hybrid vehicles. But with up to 97 percent of these materials being supplied by a single country – China – it is becoming increasingly important to find alternative sources as the applications for rare earths continue to increase.

A two-step chemical process was recently developed that is capable of extracting rare earth elements – specifically neodymium, dysprosium and praseodymium – from the magnet of an electric motor. To test it, the drive unit of a Chevrolet Spark was sliced into several pieces and then shredded. In addition to successfully separating out the rare earths, the method also yielded other recyclable materials including steel chips.

Separation and recovery technologies such as this could prove to be valuable alternative sources of many vital materials, further reducing our dependence on imports.

For information: Marion Emmert, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609; phone: 508-831-4115; email: mhemmert@wpi.edu; Web site: www.wpi.edu