1. History

Nanchang University has been conducting rare earth research since 1979 when it was Jiangxi University. In 1986, the Institute of Rare Earth Chemistry at Jiangxi University was established, mainly engaged in the development of ion adsorption rare earth resources, research and industrialization of new material. In 1997, it was renamed as the Rare Earth Engineering Research Center of Nanchang University. In 2003, it became the Rare Earth and Micro Nano Functional Materials Research Center of Nanchang University. In 2016, it was approved by the Jiangxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission to be renamed as the Jiangxi Provincial Rare Earth Material Precursor Engineering Laboratory.

2 Main Research Fields

1) Efficient and “Green” Extraction of Ion Adsorption Rare Earths: Targeting on key technical issues such as low efficiency and significant environmental impact in the development of ion adsorption rare earth resources, an environmental engineering model has been proposed to solve these problems, the technical details and specific content of this model have been determined, and a new generation of efficient green extraction technology for ion adsorption rare earths has been developed, which is effectively combined with subsequent extraction and separation. By coupling rare earth extraction and separation technologies, product quality has been improved and environmental pollution has been prevented. We completed a number of related National Key Research and Development Plan project, 973 project, Science and Technology Support Plan project, and National Natural Science Foundation projects.

2) Controllable Manufacturing of Rare Earth Material Precursor Properties and Environmental Protection: Applying ultrasonic, phase conversion, and gas-liquid-solid multiphase reaction technologies to the control of the precipitation and crystallization process of rare earths, combined with temperature and acidity control, we have achieved the regulation of product phase structure, particle size and morphology, stacking density, and aggregation structure and provided qualified precursor products for subsequent new material development and function enhancement. The produced rare earth precursor was used for the preparation of polishing materials, and the largest polishing powder production line was built for the polishing of mobile phone panels, cover plates, and optical glass. At the same time, we have developed new technologies for water-saving and consumption reduction in the precipitation crystallization process, and launched new technologies for high-value recycling and utilization of precipitation wastewater. In the New Technology for Water Saving, Consumption Reduction, and Emission Reduction in the Production of High Purity Rare Earth, by implementing technologies such as continuous saponification of organic phase through acidic extraction, high-value recycling of oxalic acid rare earth precipitation wastewater treatment, combination of north-south rare earth extraction process, high salt wastewater treatment and recovery of inorganic salts, the recycling of oxalic acid, hydrochloric acid, salt, and water were achieved.

3) Advanced Material Manufacturing and Applications: Polishing materials were expanded to include high-precision large-scale optical glass, ceramics, single crystal surface, and integrated circuit chip processing. High-purity cerium carbonate preparation technology has been developed and a series of polishing powder products have been produced to match with mold materials with different particle sizes for precision casting and processing of large aviation components. Together with others, we set up the Professional Committee for Rare Earth Polishing Materials and Surface Control Processing Technology as a branch of the China Rare Earth Society. Combining polishing materials with catalytic materials, a performance evaluation system for polishing material and slurry has been established. At the same time, we expanded the use of catalytic materials in energy conversion catalysis, industrial waste gas absorption and conversion, and electrocatalysis.

High-purity gadolinium and lanthanum nano and micro basic carbonate and oxide products for drug and nuclear medicine were expanded to nano magneto-optical sensitive materials and drug carriers for biological detection. Luminescent materials were combined with ceramic materials to expand into laser crystals, transparent functional ceramics, and biomedical applications. Rare earth functional complexes with special optical, thermal, and magnetic characteristics were designed and synthesized for optical detection and magnetic resonance imaging.