Preparation of lanthanum by the lithium-thermic method

Purification of unwanted impurities from rare earth products was carried out using inorganic and organic precipitating reagents. A 1 M solution of 8-hydroxycholine was used as organic precipitants. The use of organic precipitants forms stable intracomplex compounds with metal cations. Solutions of barium chloride and ammonia solution were used as inorganic precipitants. For the precipitant, specific and highly volatile precipitant reagents were chosen when heated. Iron, aluminum, sodium and sulfate ions were extracted from the product under study, because the chemical composition of the slag contains more of them. Enriched concentrated lanthanum chloride powder was reduced with lithium to lanthanum metal. Lanthanum is obtained in the form of large crystals with a purity of 99.6% by weight.