Cheisson Thibault, Schelter Eric J
P. Roy and Diana T. Vagelos Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 231 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Science. 2019 Feb 1;363(6426):489-493. doi: 10.1126/science.aau7628. Epub 2019 Jan 31.
The rare earths (REs) are a family of 17 elements that exhibit pronounced chemical similarities as a group, while individually expressing distinctive and varied electronic properties. These atomistic electronic properties are extraordinarily useful and motivate the application of REs in many technologies and devices. From their discovery to the present day, a major challenge faced by chemists has been the separation of RE elements, which has evolved from tedious crystallization to highly engineered solvent extraction schemes. The increasing incorporation and dependence of REs in technology have raised concerns about their sustainability and motivated recent studies for improved separations to achieve a circular RE economy.
稀土元素（REs）是由17种元素组成的一族元素，它们作为一个整体表现出明显的化学相似性，同时各自具有独特且多样的电子特性。这些原子级的电子特性非常有用，并促使稀土元素在许多技术和设备中得到应用。从它们被发现至今，化学家面临的一个主要挑战一直是稀土元素的分离，这一过程已从繁琐的结晶法发展到高度精细的溶剂萃取方案。稀土元素在技术中的使用日益增加及其依赖性引发了人们对其可持续性的担忧，并促使近期开展研究以改进分离方法，从而实现稀土元素的循环经济。
