Application of sephadex to radiochemical separations

Heteropolymolybdic acid species of a variety of elements bind to Sephadex (dextran cross-linked by epichlorohydrin). Solution pH can be used as a variable to influence the formation of heteropolymolybdates and thus their affinity for Sephadex. Therefore this material may be used to chromatographically separate certain elements which have been reacted with molybdate in solution. In this paper we report the measurement of distribution coefficients on Sephadex for heteropolymolybdates of As, P, Ge, Si, and Se for solutions of varying pH. We also describe the application of the technique to the recovery of³²Si from proton-irradiated KCl targets and⁶⁸Ge from proton-irradiated molybdenum targets.