Investigation into the preparation of rare earth metals by carbothermic reduction in tin

I . INT RODUCTION A. Rev i ew of Me thods Used to Prepa re Ra re Earths 1. Meta 1 l otherm i c reduction of the f 1 uo ride 2. Me t a ll o the rmi c reduction of t he oxide 3. Meta 1 lothermi c reduct ion of the ch 1 or i de 4. E 1 e ct row i n n i n g of the chloride, fluoride and oxide B. Ca rbothe rmic Reduction of the Oxide I I. THEO RY OF CARBOTHERMIC REDUCT ION A. Genera li zed Equations for Carbotherm i c Reduction B. Problems Assoc i ated with Carbothe rmic Reduction C. Overcoming the Probl ems of Carbothermic Reduction I I I. EXPERIMENTAL A. Eq u i pment Used for Carbo thermic Reduction B. Materials Used fo r Carbothermic Reduction C. Sample Preparation Page iv l 3 4 4 6 9 9 11 13 18 18 18 25 1. Pelletizing rare ea rth oxides and carbon 25 2. Pel letizing rare earth oxides, tin and carbon 25 3. Jolt pack i ng of rare earth oxi des, tin and carbon 26 D. Ana lysis of Samples 1. Meta llography, scanning e l ec tron mi croscopy, mi croprobe analy s i s a nd X-ray diffraction 2. Chem i ca l and gas ana lys i s E. Separation of Nd and Gd from Sn Solvent 1. Vacuum disti 1 lat ion 2. Chemica l prec ipi tat ion of tin 26