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US 12,247,268 B2Granted
Separation of rare earth elements
AssigneeSHINE Technologies, LLC
InventorsGregory Piefer, Eric Van Abel, Richard Sisson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sublimation/distillation apparatus including a crucible with an open end, a heating device thermally coupled to the crucible, an actively cooled collection substrate disposed above the open end of the crucible, and a vacuum chamber housing the crucible, the heating device, and the actively cooled collection substrate.
Claims30
A method for purifying lutetium, the method comprising:
- reducing ytterbium oxide to ytterbium metal;
- irradiating the ytterbium metal to generate lutetium, thereby forming a solid composition comprising ytterbium and lutetium;
- subliming or distilling ytterbium from the solid composition in an inert or reduced pressure environment and at a temperature of about 400° C. to about 1500° C. to leave a lutetium composition comprising a higher weight percentage of lutetium than was present in the solid composition;
- and
- collecting the ytterbium for reuse.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- heating a solid composition of ytterbium and lutetium to a first temperature in an inert or reduced pressure environment;
- retaining the solid composition at the first temperature in the inert or reduced pressure environment;
- and
- heating the solid composition to a second temperature that is greater than the first temperature in the inert or reduced pressure environment such that ytterbium sublimes, distills, or both sublimes and distills from the solid composition to leave a lutetium composition comprising a higher weight percentage of lutetium than was present in the solid composition, wherein the second temperature is about 400° C. to about 1500° C.
1 more element
A method for purifying lutetium, the method comprising:
- subliming or distilling ytterbium from a solid composition in an environment comprising a pressure of 1×10−3 torr or less and at a temperature of about 400° C. to less than 700° C. to leave a lutetium composition comprising a higher weight percentage of lutetium than was present in the solid composition.
A method for purifying lutetium, the method comprising:
- subliming or distilling ytterbium from a solid composition in an environment comprising a pressure of about 1×10−6 torr to about 1×10−1 torr and at a temperature of about 470° C. to 630° C. to leave a lutetium composition comprising a higher weight percentage of lutetium than was present in the solid composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.