Application Progress of Chromatography in the Separation and Determination of Rare Earth Elements

Rare earth elements (REEs) as an important non-renewable resource are attracting more and more attention in many fields of industry. Chromatographic technology has become the main method in the separation and determination of REEs due to its obvious advantages, for example, high speed of analysis, high efficiency and ease of automation. In this review, application and research of the chromatographic approaches are introduced such as Paper Chromatography, Thin-Layer Chromatography, Gas Chromatography, Supercritical Fluid Chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis for separation and determination of REEs. Paper Chromatography has been rarely used because of its long operation time and poor separation effect. Thin-Layer Chromatography could be used for preliminary analysis of REEs because of easy operation and simple devices. Gas Chromatography has also been rarely used owing to the thermal stability limit of samples, as well as poor separation and adsorption of ligands of β-diketones. Supercritical Fluid Chromatography has been applied for the separation of complexes of REEs, but its application is limited by expensive and complicated instruments. High Performance Liquid Chromatography has currently become a main method for separation and determination of REEs because of its automatic operation, good repeatability, and good separation effect, etc. Capillary Electrophoresis, which has the advantages of high efficiency, less consumption of samples and reagents, and flexible operation, would provide a huge development area in separation and determination of REEs.