Abstract
This study focuses on the difficulty of converting fluorinated rare earth elements into hydroxylated rare earth elements in rare earth melt electrolysis slag (RMES) and proposes the use of a microwave-assisted atmospheric alkaline leaching method for the treatment of RMES. The leaching behavior of RMES under microwave-assisted atmospheric alkaline leaching was studied, and the optimal reaction conditions were determined. Under the conditions of a reaction temperature of 150 °C, initial NaOH concentration of 60 %, NaOH-to-slag mass ratio of 4:1, microwave power of 700 W, reaction time of 120 min, and stirring speed of 300 r/min, the conversion rate of fluorinated rare earths reached 99.17 %. The apparent rate equation of the microwave-assisted atmospheric alkaline leaching process was obtained by leaching kinetic analysis, and the apparent activation energy under this process was calculated to be 54.872 kJ/mol, which was 12.458 kJ/mol lower than that achieved when conventional heating was used for leaching (67.33 kJ/mol).