Patent ID: 8425654

Claim:
A method for purifying lanthanide elements, comprising the steps of: irradiating a europium-containing target with neutron irradiation for a preselected time to form a desired lanthanide in the irradiated target; dissolving the irradiated target in a strong acid to form a solution; heating the solution to remove the acid and form a hydrated salt of the irradiated target; dissolving the hydrated salt of the irradiated target in dry methanol to form a methanol solution; treating the methanol solution containing the target material with zinc for a preselected time to reduce the oxidation state of the irradiated target; adding sulfate [SO 4 2− ] to form a precipitate containing the irradiated target; removing the precipitate from the methanol solution to create a liquid filtrate containing the desired lanthanide; and recovering the desired lanthanide from the liquid filtrate by cation exchange.