| Abstract Scope |
Germanium, gallium and indium are valuable elements due to their great economic importance and growing utilization in high-tech and green-tech applications. The exploitation of new resources, for example tailings, slags, or end-of-life products, as well as the application of sustainable biotechnological methods, results in the challenge of separating Fe(III) and In(III), Ge(IV) or Ga(III). With common methods, such as precipitation, the selectivity for In, Ga and Ge is often insufficient. The application of innovative solvent extraction processes is a promising approach to separate valuable metals from iron in order to make them available for an efficient recovery. In this study, we present the development of extraction methods using amine extractants for the selective separation of Fe(III) from In(III), Ga(III) and Ge(IV) in sulfate solutions. The influence of different parameters, e.g. pH and A/O, as well as the transfer to a continuous lab scale process will be discussed. |