Synergistic extraction of rare earth elements from HNO3 solutions with a mixture of chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide and acidic zirconium salt of dibutyl hydrogen phosphate in a polar diluent

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Extraction of La and Ln(III) (except Pm) from HNO₃ solutions with mixtures of acidic zirconium salts of dibutyl hydrogen phosphate (ZS HDBP) with chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide (CCD) in a polar diluent, 1: 1 mixture of о-chloronitrobenzene and CCl₄, was studied. A synergistic effect is observed at definite ratios of CCD and ZS HDBP in the mixture. The magnitude of the synergistic effect increases with an increase in the Zr to HDBP molar ratio. The maximal synergistic effect equal to 360 was reached for Dy in the ZS HDBP (1: 6)–CCD extraction system. The maximal REE distribution ratio (D_max) is observed for elements from La to Dy at the HDBP to CCD molar ratio of 2 in all the extraction systems. For elements of the Ho–Lu series, D_max is observed at the HDBP to CCD molar ratio from 2 to 6. The HDBP to CCD molar ratio at which D_max is reached increases with an increase in the Zr content of the extraction system. For some pairs of elements, the separation factor considerably increases in the extractant mixture relative to the extractants taken separately. The largest increase in the separation factor (by a factor of 8.3) was noted for the Tm–Er pair in the CCD–ZS HDBP (1: 6) system. The synergistic effect in some cases is preserved at least up to the HDBP to CCD molar ratio of 670: 1, and at higher ratios the magnitude of the synergistic effect does not exceed the uncertainty of its determination. This fact suggests the formation of so-called hypercomplexes containing tens and hundreds of HDBP molecules in the CCD–ZS HDBP systems, similarly to the CCD–HDBP system. The largest number of HDBP molecules was noted in the Ln–CCD–[(ZS HDBP (1: 6)]_n complexes. The CCD–ZS HDBP (1: 6) and CCD–ZS HDBP (1: 12) systems are promising for the separation of REE and TPE, and small addition of CCD to the ZS HDBP (1: 6) system in a polar diluent allows the development of a cheap solvent efficiently recovering all the REE and TPE from a 3 M HNO₃ solution.