Efficient recovery of neodymium in acidic system by free-standing dual-template docking oriented ionic imprinted mesoporous films

Neodymium (Nd) is critical component of sintered neodymium magnets. Separation of Nd from consumer magnets has attracted a widespread attention. In this paper, we presented free-standing ionic imprinted mesoporous film materials for facile and highly efficient targeted separation of Nd from permanent magnets by dual-template docking oriented ionic imprinting (DTDOII) method. DTD-OII is based on dual-template docking oriented molecular imprinting. Compared with conventional imprinting, this novel strategy does not need extra steps, but significantly advance imprinted efficiency. With optimization of functional monomer, our free-standing dual-template docking oriented ionic imprinted mesoporous films exhibit excellent adsorption of Nd by solid-liquid extraction. The Nd adsorption capacity for optimized films was 34.98 mg g^-1 under pH = 3.0. The distribution coefficient of Nd was 636 mL g^-1, which indicates films possess significantly selectivity of Nd. In addition, efficient dual-template docking oriented ionic imprinting makes films demonstrating an outstanding of reusability by cycle test, which appreciating their potential for industrial application.