Removal of Fluoride from Fluoride-bering Cerium Sulfate Solution by Hydrous Zirconium Oxide

J. G. He, Y. Li, X. X. Xue, H. Q. Ru, H. Yang School of Material and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China. X. W. Huang National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, and Grirem Advanced Materials Co., Ltd., Beijing, China In this paper the removal of fl uoride from fl uoride-bearing cerium sulfate solution by amorphous hydrous zirconium oxide was studied . The FTIR, SEM, EDS and UV -vis spectra show that fl uoride is suc cessfully adsorbed on h ydrous zirconium oxide, and cerium exists as Ce4+ in solution. The study indicates that it is feasible to separate fl uorine and cerium from fl uorine-bearing rare earth sulfate solution using hydrous zirconium oxide, and eliminate the infl uence of fl uoride on the extraction separation of rare earths.