New process skips toxic solvents in rare earth recovery and exposes new magnet chemistries.

In a leap toward a more circular economy, researchers at IOCB Prague have unveiled a novel method of recycling rare earths that uses only water and a specially designed molecule to separate metals from used magnets.

This approach bypasses the complexities, hazardous acids, organic solvents, and high-temperature treatments typically used in conventional separation and recovery. It targets key rare earth elements – especially neodymium and dysprosium – which are vital for clean energy and advanced electronics, including EVs, wind turbines, and smartphones.

This represents positive progress toward establishing an economic standard that encourages the recovery of valuable elements from end-of-life devices and e-waste. As demand for rare earths outpaces supply from traditional mining, scalable and environmentally friendly recycling is becoming increasingly essential.

The simplicity and cleanliness of the IOCB Prague method not only reduces waste but also promises to lower costs and regulatory burdens, especially for companies seeking greener supply chains.

Conventional rare earth recycling is often energy-intensive, generates toxic waste, and occasionally produces radioactive residues, raising significant environmental concerns. The new process developed in Prague eliminates these drawbacks by using water as the primary solvent, dramatically reducing environmental harm and health risks. It also eliminates the need for multiple processing stages, making it more efficient and less resource-intensive.

The innovation arrives amid growing geopolitical anxiety over critical mineral supply chains. China continues to dominate rare earth production and refining, sparking concern in the U.S. and Europe about strategic vulnerabilities. The Prague method could help Europe establish its own recycling-based supply of critical minerals, thereby enhancing resource independence and reducing exposure to trade disruptions or export controls.

Scalable, tunable selectivity

The key innovation lies in a newly developed chelating molecule that binds specifically to neodymium ions, causing them to precipitate from solution, while dysprosium remains dissolved. This precise selectivity enables clean separation of the metals, which is critical for producing new magnets without contamination. It's a level of chemical control that traditional solvent-based methods can rarely achieve without introducing hazardous byproducts.

A chelator (from the Greek word for claw) is a molecule with multiple "claws" (typically atoms like oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur) that can attach to a single metal ion at several points. The process is used to separate, isolate, or remove specific metals from mixtures.

Because chemical elements like neodymium and dysprosium don't degrade through processing, they can be reused indefinitely – but only if they are separated efficiently. This method ensures that recycled materials retain the purity and performance required for high-quality magnet production. The research team believes it could eventually be customized to isolate other rare earths as well, opening the door to even broader applications in electronics recycling.

The process was optimized for REEs in neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB ) magnets, enabling repeated precipitation to separate various rare earths, including the lanthanides.

"Separation factors comparable to those of industrial solvent extraction methods were achieved without organic solvents," according to a report published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. "Scalable, tunable, and entirely aqueous, this approach advances the sustainable use of REEs toward a circular economy."

The method has already been patented and is currently under active evaluation through a feasibility study, a crucial step in transitioning from lab-scale experiments to full-scale industrial deployment.

If the process proves viable in commercial settings, it could radically transform how manufacturers and recyclers handle rare earth waste, enabling more circular and sustainable supply chains. The simplicity of the process also suggests that it could be adapted for use in smaller or decentralized recycling facilities.

"We're impatiently awaiting the results of a feasibility study, which will help us direct this research from the laboratory into practice," said Milan Prášil, director of the transfer company IOCB Tech. "I believe that in cooperation with the investors and business partners we're approaching, this new technology from IOCB Prague has the potential to influence a wide range of industrial sectors."

Keeping up

In an unexpected discovery, the researchers found that holmium, a rare earth element not previously linked to neodymium magnets, is being used in electric vehicle motors. This finding came from an analysis of magnet samples taken from both European and Chinese EVs.

Holmium likely plays a role in enhancing magnetic strength or thermal stability, but its presence has gone largely untracked in recycling processes to date. This revelation has implications for future recycling systems, which must evolve with proprietary chemistries kept undisclosed, which would otherwise be missed.

As more EVs reach the end of their life, the ability to identify and recover all rare earth components, both known and newly introduced, will be critical for designing effective closed-loop material recovery systems.

The finding underscores the importance of ongoing analysis of evolving technologies and the need to adapt recycling methods as new materials are introduced into the supply chain.

IOCB Tech, the institute's technology transfer arm, is now engaging with potential investors and industrial partners to commercialize the breakthrough. According to the organization's leadership, the technology has the potential to influence a wide range of sectors, from automotive to renewable energy and electronics.

The method's cost-effectiveness, combined with its environmental safety, positions it as an attractive solution for industries under pressure to decarbonize and reduce reliance on imports.

"Our method solves the fundamental problems of recycling neodymium magnets. We can separate the right elements so that new magnets can be produced. Our process is environmentally friendly, and we believe that it will work on an industrial scale," explained Miloslav Polášek, head of the Coordination Chemistry group. "Fortunately, unlike plastics, chemical elements don't lose their properties through repeated processing, so their recycling is sustainable and can compensate for traditional mining."