Recent advances in selective separation technologies of rare earth elements: a review

With the continuous improvement of technological level, the potential of rare earth elements (REEs) called "industrial gold" in various fields has been continuously explored, and some rare earth elements are regarded as very valuable additives in the high-tech field. With the rapid development of the rare earth industry in recent years, the demand for REEs has continued to rise. Because neighboring rare earth elements have extremely similar physical and chemical properties, in industrial applications, the purity of rare earth elements has high requirements, so the separation between rare earth elements is particularly important. Over time, people have developed a variety of techniques for the separation and recovery of rare earth elements, commonly used including chemical precipitation, ion exchange, solvent extraction, membrane separation, and adsorption, etc. At present, there are few reports on the comprehensive progress of all separation and purification technologies for a single rare earth element. This article mainly summarizes the latest developments in the separation of rare earth elements, evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of various process technologies, and prospects the development prospects of rare earth element separation technologies. [Display omitted] •Latest developments in separation technologies of single rare earth elements were reviewed.•Different technologies commonly used in rare earth separation at present were briefly evaluated.•Adsorption method in the separation of rare earth elements was mainly introduced.•Challenges faced by the current rare earth separation technologies were also put forwarded.