Rare earth elements recovery and mechanisms from coal fly ash by column leaching using citric acid

[Display omitted] •Rare earth oxides and fluorides in coal fly ash are hosted in aluminosilicate matrix.•A column leaching method was designed to recover REEs from coal fly ash.•REEs were selectively leached with a recovery of 64.8%.•Citric acid and rare earth cations were adsorbed on the surface of coal fly ash.•Rare earth cations were complexed with citrate anions during column leaching. Rare earth elements (REEs) play an irreplaceable role in supporting the advancement of the global economy and technology, but their limited supply drives researchers to devise effective strategies for the recovery of REEs from alternative sources, including coal fly ash (CFA). In this work, a new column leaching method using citric acid as the lixiviant was proposed to enhance the recovery of REEs from CFA at room temperature. The mechanism of column leaching was investigated based on sample properties, leaching results, and the adsorption characteristics and complexation of citric acid. REEs in the CFA were found to be hosted into the amorphous aluminosilicate matrix in the form of oxides and fluorides using SEM-EDS. Compared to the maximum recovery of total REEs (TREEs, < 30 %) in the conventional agitation leaching tests, the recovery of TREEs in the column leaching tests increased significantly to 64.8 %, while the leaching rate of impurities (Al, Ti, and Fe) was less than 13.7 %. Results of the Zeta potential measurements showed that the citric acid and rare earth cations were adsorbed on the surface of CFA particles. These adsorption phenomena may make REEs bind to the CFA surface, thereby resulting in low leaching recoveries of REEs. Rare earth-citrate complexes in the lixivium were isolated by antisolvent precipitation, demonstrating that rare earth cations can be complexed by citrate. During the column leaching process, the leached rare earth ions were complexed with citrate and then carried away with the flowing liquid phase, which improved the recovery of REEs.