Process evaluation of scandium production and its environmental impact

With advancement of technology and global shift toward clean energy, the need for rare-earth metalsis increasing. Scandium, a rare earth metal, has been extensively used over decades in solid oxide fuel cells and aluminum-scandium alloys that have vast evolving market in aerospace, automobiles and 3D printing. However, the market struggles to maintain the supply chain due to expensive recovery processes and absence of uniform global distribution of primary sources. Therefore, identification of alternative sources and technological advancement for scandium recovery is needed. To this context, an effort has been made to provide a list of the advances in different technologies applied in scandium recovery from diverse sources. Emphasis has been given on the improvements and up-gradation of technologies in terms of environmental impact and percentage recovery. An attempt has been made to discuss and deliver a clear representation of the challenges associated with every source for scandium recovery and major developments done in them. The environmental impact of scandium recovery and recycling has also been discussed.