Separação de substâncias quimicamente semelhantes elementos de terras raras é notoriamente difícil. A principal indústria método is solvent extraction, specifically liquid-liquid counter-current extraction. This process exploits subtle differences in the partition coefficients of rare-earth ions between an aqueous phase and an immiscible organic phase containing a complexing agent. By repeating the process over hundreds of stages, high-purity individual elements can be isolated.

















