Rhenium and Molybdenum Separating Technology in Hubei Obtained National Patent

For separating rhenium and molybdenum, the Hubei Provincial Geological Experiment and Testing Center has developed an excellent enrichment material. The "Three Rare" resources research won the national patent again. The related results have been named "a chitosan ion Gel and its preparation method and application".

The "Three Rare" resources, namely rare earth, rare, and scattered minerals, are the basic raw materials for the development of strategic emerging industries and are widely used in high-precision technology fields such as national defense, aerospace, high-end electronic equipment, nuclear industry, and luminescent materials.

Rhenium is a silvery-gray, heavy, third-row transition metal in group 7 of the periodic table. With an estimated average concentration of 1 part per billion (ppb), it is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. The metal has the third-highest melting point and second-highest boiling point of any stable element at 5903 K. The metal resembles manganese and technetium chemically and is mainly obtained as a by-product of the extraction and refinement of molybdenum and copper ores. The metal is often used to manufacture high-performance aerospace engine turbine blades.

Rhenium is low in abundance, scattered, and is associated with molybdenum. According to the relevant person in charge of the Hubei Provincial Geological Experiment and Testing Center, in 2017, with the support of the Provincial Department of Natural Resources, the center worked with Huazhong University of Science and Technology, South-Central University for Nationalities has carried out scientific research on "Research on efficient enrichment method and mechanism of the rare metal". The research has been lasted more than two years and achieved certain results.

According to reports, the project uses safe, green, and environmentally friendly chitosan as raw materials to prepare porous structural materials with sponge-like voids. Under normal circumstances, the adsorption rate by this material can be higher than 90%, indicating that the adsorption effect is efficient. In the pH range of 2 to 14, rhenium and molybdenum can be completely separated. Therefore, the material can be used as an excellent enrichment material, providing technical support for the comprehensive utilization of the metal, and has excellent industrial application prospects.

Up to now, the Hubei Provincial Geological Experiment and Testing Center has obtained 6 national patents in the research of "Three Rare" resources including the rhenium extraction technology, 4 first-level national standard materials and a batch of polymetallic ore standard materials, and the related results have filled the industry gap.

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