EXTRACTION OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS WITH DEEP EUTECTIC SOLVENTS

It relates to process for the extraction of rare earth elements from a starting product containing them in metal or alloy form which comprises: a) contacting the starting product containing rare earthelements in metal or alloy form with a deep eutectic solvent that consists of a mixture of a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) compound (A) selected from a salt of the formula CatX (I), betaine or asalt thereof, and carnitine or a salt thereof; and a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) compound (B) in a molar ratio of (A) to (B) from 1:10 to 10:1, wherein the deep eutectic solvent is capable of extracting at least 50%w/w of one or more rare earth elements contained in the starting solid product in less than 5 hours, and b) separating the solvent containing the rare earth elements in dissolution fromthe undissolved solid. 本发明涉及从含有金属或合金形式的稀土元素的起始产品中提取稀土元素的方法，所述方法包括：a)将所述含有金属或合金形式的稀土元素的起始产品与深共熔溶剂接触，所述深共熔溶剂由选自式CatX(I)的盐、甜菜碱或其盐、以及肉碱或其盐的氢键受体(HBA)化合物(A)；以及氢键供体(HBD)化合物(B)的混合物组成，(A)与(B)的摩尔比为1:10至10:1，其中，所述深共熔溶剂能够在小于5小时内提取起始固体产品中所含