Synergistic extraction of uranium(VI) with tri-n-butyl phosphate and i-butyldodecylsulfoxide

Summary The synergistic extraction of uranium(VI) from aqueous nitric acid solution with a mixture of tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and i-butyldodecylsulfoxide (BDSO) in toluene was investigated. The effects of the concentrations of extractant, nitric acid, sodium nitrate and sodium oxalate on the distribution ratios of uranium(VI) have been studied. The values of enthalpy change for the extraction reactions with BDSO, TBP and a mixture of TBP and BDSO in toluene were -23.2±0.8 kJ/mol, -29.2±1.4 kJ/mol and -30.6±0.6 kJ/mol, respectively. It has been found that the maximum synergistic extraction effect occurs when the molar ratio of TBP to BDSO is close to 1. The composition of the complex of the synergistic extraction is UO₂(NO₃)₂ ^. BDSO ^. TBP.     

Properties of PAN-TBP extraction chromatographic material

Three production routes of the preparation of a solid extractant based on tributylphosphate (TBP) embedded in the polyacrylonitrile matrix (PAN) have been studied. The method of direct PAN coagulation with TBP was found to be not viable due to the significant TBP solubility in the coagulation bath. The most suitable PAN-TBP solid extractant was prepared by the well-known impregnation method of ready-made neat PAN beads. The kinetics of uranium extraction from 3 mol L^?1 HNO₃, the effect of nitrate and nitric acids concentrations on the value of weight distribution coefficients D _g as well as the uranium “extraction isotherm” were determined for this material. Uranium extraction was rather fast, approximately 1 h was sufficient for the equilibrium achievement. Capacity for the uranium uptake, measured in batch experiments on PAN-TBP for 0.048 mol L^?1 of uranium in 3 mol L^?1 nitric acid, was found to be q = 0.363 mmol g^?1 (58 % of the theoretical capacity). It was concluded that PAN-TBP material behaves like TBP in liquid–liquid extraction. Extraction capacity determined in column experiments was lower (by about 23 %) than expected from the “extraction isotherm” due to the TBP leaching out of the column. The thus prepared material is therefore not very suitable for multicycle extraction and stripping and can be used once, particularly for the analytical purposes.     

Tri-iso-amyl phosphate (TAP): An alternative extractant to tri-butyl phosphate (TBP) for reactor fuel reprocessing

Tri-iso-amyl phosphate (TAP), an indigenously prepared extractant was utilized for reactor fuel reprocessing and compared with tri-butyl phosphate (TBP) and tri-n-hexyl phosphate (THP). The potential of these extractants was found to be in the order TAP>THP>TBP by calculating the acid uptake value (K _H). The effect of various parameters such as solvent degradation due to acid hydrolysis, radiation effect, decontamination factor and phase separation were investigated and it was found that TAP was always a better extractant in comparison to THP and TBP. In addition to this, the extraction of fission product contaminants such as ¹⁴⁴Ce, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁰⁶Ru, ⁹⁵Zr was almost negligible, even at very high nitric acid concentrations in the aqueous phase, indicating the potential application of TAP in actinide partitioning. Sodium carbonate solution or acidified distilled water was a good strippant for U(VI), similarly, uranium(IV) nitrate stripped Pu(IV) from the organic phase.     

Study on the synergic extraction of uranium(VI) with petroleum sulfoxides (PSO) and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) mixture

The synergic extraction of uranium(VI) from nitric acid solution with petroleum sulfoxides (PSO) and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) mixture has been studied. It has been found that maximum synergic extraction effect occurs if the molar ratio of PSO to TBP is two to three. The composition of the complex of synergic extraction is UO₂(NO₃)₂·TBP·PSO. The formation constant of the complex isK _PT=8.19. The effect of extractant concentration, nitric acid concentration, salting-out agent concentration and temperature on the extraction equilibrium of uranium(VI) was also studied.     

Extraction of actinides by dibutyl-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethylenephosphonate [DBDECMP] from nitric acid solutions

The extraction of Am(III), Pu(IV) and U(VI) as representatives of tri-, tetra- and hexavalent actinides by dibutyl-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethylenephosphonate (DBDECMP) from nitric acid solution has ben studied with an objective of understanding the extraction mechanism. The dependence of the distribution ratios of the actinide ions was studied as a function of the concentration of H⁺, DBDECMP and NO ₃ ^– . The extraction data revealed that all the three actinide ions are extracted as their neutral nitrate complexes solvated by DBDECMP which behaves as neutral extractant only. The absorption spectra of DBDECMP and TBP extracts of these actinide ions were recorded. From the close similarity of these spectra it is inferred that DBDECMP acts as a monodentate extractant in the present system.     

Comparative extraction efficiencies of tri-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butyl phosphate and <Emphasis Type="Italic">N,N</Emphasis>-dihexyloctanamide for uranium recovery using supercritical CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Extraction of uranium from tissue paper, synthetic soil, and from its oxides (UO₂, UO₃ and U₃O₈) was carried out using supercritical carbon dioxide modified with methanol solutions of extractants such as tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) or N,N-dihexyl octanamide (DHOA). The effects of temperature, pressure, extractant/nitric acid (nitrate) concentration, and of hydrogen peroxide on uranium extraction were investigated. The dissolution and extraction of uranium in supercritical CO₂ modified with TBP, from oxide samples followed the order: UO₃ ≫ UO₂ > U₃O₈. Addition of hydrogen peroxide in the modifier solution enhanced the dissolution/extraction of uranium in dynamic mode. DHOA appeared better than TBP for recovery of uranium from different oxide samples. Similar enhancement in uranium extraction was observed in static mode experiments in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Uranium estimation in the extracted fraction was carried out by spectrophotometry employing 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (Br-PADAP) as the chromophore.     

The separation of zinc(II) and cadmium(II) by liquid-liquid extraction

The extraction of Zn(II) and Cd(II) from thiocyanate solutions with bis-2-ethylhexyl sulphoxide (B₂EHSO) in benzene as an extractant has been studied by tracer techniques. For comparison, extraction has also been carried out with tributylphosphate (TBP). The extraction data have been analysed by both graphical and theoretical methods by taking into account complexation of the metal in the aqueous phase by inorganic ligands and plausible complexes extracted into the organic phase. The results demonstrate that Zn(II) is extracted as Zn(SCN)₂·2B2EHSO and Zn(SCN)₂·2TBP. In the case of Cd(II), the extracted species are Cd(SCN)₂·4B2EHSO/4TBP. The synergistic extraction of Zn(II) and Cd(II) with mixtures of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-pyrazolone-5 (HPMBP) and B2EHSO or TBP or trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) from acetate buffer solutions has also been investigated. Zn(II) is extracted as Zn(PMBP)₂·B2EHSO/TBP/TOPO. On the other hand, Cd(II) is found to be not extracted with these mixed-ligand systems under the experimental conditions. These results also demonstrate the mutual separation of Zn(II) and Cd(II) using the synergistic extraction with HPMBP in the presence of various neutral oxodonors.     

Synergistic extraction of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) with mixtures of Cyanex272 and other organophosphorus ligands

The extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) from nitric acid solutions has been studied using mixtures of bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid (Cyanex272 or HA), and synergistic extractants (S) such as tri-butylphosphate (TBP), tri-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) or bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)thiophosphinic acid (Cyanex301). The results showed that these metallic ions are extracted into kerosene as Th(OH)₂(NO₃)A·HA and UO₂(NO₃)A·HA with Cyanex272 alone. In the presence of neutral organophosphorus ligands TBP and TOPO, they are found to be extracted as Th(OH)₂(NO₃)A·HA·S and UO₂(NO₃)A·HA·S. On the other hand, Th(IV), U(VI) are extracted as Th(OH)₂(NO₃)A·HA·2S and UO₂(NO₃)A·HA·S in the presence of Cyanex301. The addition of neutral extractants such as TOPO and TBP to the extraction system enhanced the extraction efficiency of both elements while Cyanex301 as an acidic extractant has improved the selectivity between uranium and thorium. The effect of TOPO on the extraction was higher than other extractants. The equilibrium constants of above species have been estimated by non-linear regression method. The extraction amounts were determined and the results were compared with those of TBP. Also, it was found that the binding to the neutral ligands by the thorium–Cyanex272 complexes follows the neutral ligand basicity sequence.     

Solvent extraction of uranium(VI) by LIX-54 and its mixtures

Studies on solvent extraction of uranium(VI) by a commercially available chelating extractant LIX-54 (a -diketone derivative) (HA) and its mixtures with tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in benzene diluent show quantitative extraction by a mixture of 5% LIX-54 and 5% TBP at pH 4.3. Influence of different proportions of LIX-54 or TBP in the mixtures on the extraction of the same metal ion has been studied. Pronounced synergism has been observed. The composition of the extracted species seems to be [UO₂(OH)(A)(HA)(TBP)] as determined from slope analysis. Slopes of the linear plots were computed employing regression analysis and variance in results has been shown.     

Insight of solvent extraction process: Reassessment of trace level determinations

Solvent extraction is hoary yet modern technique with great scope of research due to the various intriguing phenomena in the system. Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) is a well known extractant which has been extensively used for separation of uranium matrix prior to elemental profiling. In this paper, one of the impurities namely Fe is being considered as it posed a challenge to the separation due to its co-extraction with TBP along with uranium. In these studies, for the first time, the existence of cation-cation inner sphere complexes between the UO₂²⁺and Fe³⁺ ions in both aqueous and organic phases have been establisted in addition to the selective separation of iron from uranium sample matrix using only TBP. The data from both spectrophotometric and thermophysical studies corroborated one another confirming the presence of cation-cation interactions (CCIs). The developed solvent extraction with only TBP showed almost no interferences on the iron extraction from matrix uranium and other co-ions like aluminum and copper. This has been the first time application of pure TBP for selective removal of iron from uranium samples. The procedure possessed excellent reproducibility and robustness.     

Selective separation of trace nickel(II) and gold(I) ions via hollow fiber supported liquid membrane enhanced by synergistic extractants D2EHPA/TBP

This work presents the selective and simultaneous separation of nickel (Ni²⁺) and gold ([Au(CN)₂]⁻) ions, in trace amounts, from alkaline solution via hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) technique. HFSLM is challengingly carried out in real rinse wastewater generated by the ENIG plating process. The influence of various chemical parameters, including the type of extractant and their concentrations, molar ratios of mixed extractant as well as type of strippant, are also studied. The organophosphorus extractant mixtures of D2EHPA and TBP provide a synergistic effect for target Ni²⁺ ions but has an antagonistic effect as regards the extraction of non-target [Au(CN)₂]⁻ ions. Compared to other inorganic acids, HCl is seen to be the most suitable strippant for the selective stripping. Results demonstrate that percentages of extraction and stripping of Ni²⁺ ions achieved 85.7 and 83.2%, respectively. In contrast, percentages of extraction and stripping of non-target [Au(CN)₂]⁻ ions attained 15.6 and 1.94%.     

Solvent extraction of zirconium from hydrochloric acid solutions by sulphoxides and their mixtures

The solvent extraction of zirconium from HCl solutions by dipentyl sulphoxide (DPSO), dioctyl sulphoxide (DOSO), tributyl phosphate (TBP), and their mixtures in various solvents has been studied. At a given H⁺ strength, the extraction coefficient η of the metal increases with an increase in Cl⁻ activity whereas it is almost independent of H⁺ at constant Cl⁻. Under otherwise identical conditions, η increases with an increase in the extractant concentration but is virtually independent of the metal ion concentration over a wide range. The species extracted are ZrCl₄·DPSO, ZrCl₄·DOSO, and ZrCl₄·2TBP. In the case of mixtures, the slope of the log η−log M extractant plot for one component decreases with an increase in the concentration of the second component, the lines crossing at a common point. Extraction is favoured by solvents of low dielectric constant. It is possible to separate zirconium from thorium and uranium by solvent extraction with sulphoxides.     

Hexanoic acid as an alternative diluent in a GANEX process: feasibility study

Used nuclear fuel is radiotoxic for mankind and its environment for a long time. However, if it can be transmuted, the radiotoxicity as well as its heat load are reduced. Before a transmutation the actinides within the used fuel need to be separated from the fission, corrosion and activation products. This separation can be achieved by using the liquid–liquid extraction technique. One extraction process that can be used for such a separation is the Group ActiNide EXtraction (GANEX) process. One GANEX process that can successfully accomplish the separation utilizes the diluent cyclohexanone in combination with the extractant tributylphosphate (TBP) (30 % vol) and a second extractant, CyMe₄-BTBP (10 mM). However, there are some issues when using cyclohexanone as diluent. In this work an alternative diluent has therefore been tried in order to determine if it can replace cyclohexanone. The diluent used was hexanoic acid. In a system containing 10–12 mM CyMe₄-BTBP and 30 % vol TBP in hexanoic acid with the aqueous phase 4 M HNO₃, the distribution ratios for americium and curium are unfortunately low (D _Am = 1.1 ± 0.27, D _Cm = 1.6 ± 1.81). The concentration of CyMe₄-BTBP ligand, the extractant of curium and americium, could unfortunately not be increased, because of limited solubility in hexanoic acid. The distribution ratios for fission, corrosion and activation products were low for most metals; however, cadmium, palladium and molybdenum all unfortunately have distributions ratios above 1. To conclude, low americium and curium extractions indicate that hexanoic acid is not a suitable diluent which could replace cyclohexanone in a GANEX process.     

Preparation of multitracer nuclides from UO2 (NO3)2 irradiated by40Ar ion beam

UO₂ (NO₃)₂ was irradiated with a 25 MeV/nucleon⁴⁰Ar ion beam. The target material irradiated was dissolved in ethyl ether, and the uranyl was removed from the back extractant 5M HNO₃ saturated with NH₄NO₃ by means of solvent extraction with TBP in CCl₄. A carrier-free multitracer solution containing 47 elements from Na to Bi and 83 radionuclides was prepared and has been applied to adsorption studies on alumina and soils.     

Trennung von spaltprodukten durch Extraktionschromatographie

The separation of fission products which form anionic species in mineral acids and of uranium and neptunium from samples of neutron-irradiated uranium is described. The method used is extraction chromatography with tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl)-orthophosphoric acid (HDEHP) as extractants and polytrifluoromonochloroethylene powder as the solid support. In the first column Zr, U and Np are extracted with TBP from 8N HNO₃/NaClO₃. In the second column, HDEHP is applied as extractant and 9N HCl/NaClO₃ as the mobile phase for the isolation of Nb, Sb, and I, and in the third column (HDEHP), the rare earths and Mo are extracted from 0.1N HCl. Finally with the fourth column (TBP), Te and Tc are isolated from 6N HCl. These four groups of elements are further separated by elution from the columns. From the final effluent containing Ru, Rh, Cs, Sr, and Ba, Ru is distilled from HClO₄, and Rh is precipitated with NH₄OH. The determination of chemical yields with X-ray fluorescence techniques is described for Zr, Mo, Te, Cs, Ce and U.

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Aus einer Dissertation, Mainz 1967.     

New extractants for reprocessing of spent Th-U fuel

A study on solvent extraction of U(VI), Th(IV) and HNO₃ from nitric acid media by DEHSO is described. Extraction coefficients of U(VI), Th(IV) and HNO₃ as a function of aqueous HNO₃ concentration, extractant concentration and temperature have been studied. From the data the compositions of extracted species, equilibrium constants and enthalpies of extraction reaction have been evaluated. Back-extraction of U(VI) and Th(IV) from the organic phase by dilute nitric acid has also been tested. All studies on DEHSO are compared with TBP.     

Extraction of europium from mixed acids and mixed aqueous—Organic media

The extraction of Eu with Amberlite LA-2, TBP and HDEHP from HF, HCl, HBr, H₂SO₄, CH₃ COOH and KI solutions was investigated. The extraction of Eu with TBP and LA-2 is small over a wide range of concentrations. The extraction of Eu with HDEHP from HCl, HBr, and H₂SO₄ is inversely proportional to the third power of the acid concentration, while the extraction from KI is proportional to the square of the extractant concentration. The extraction by the three extractants from H₂SO₄ in presence of small amounts of hydrogen halides is small. These extraction data can be used to separate Eu from Th and many of the fission products. The presence of water-miscible alcohols and acetone generally increases the extraction of Eu from H₂SO₄ and KI solutions.     

盐湖卤水萃取提锂及其机理研究

本文以磷酸三丁酯(TBP)为萃取剂,煤油为稀释剂,在FeCl₃存在的条件下,选择性萃取盐湖卤水中的锂。系统研究了相比、萃取剂组成、铁锂比等对锂萃取率的影响,及洗涤、反萃取工艺条件。得到最佳工艺条件为：萃取相比V_O/V_A为1.5,TBP质量分数为75%,c_Fe³⁺/c_Li⁺=2,c_H⁺=0.02 mol·L^-1,萃取时间为20 min;洗涤相比V_O/V_A为15;反萃取相比V_O/V_A为20。并运用红外与核磁方法分析研究,表明是TBP上的P=O双键与LiFeCl₄金属配合物的配位水分子产生氢键作用而使金属配合物与TBP结合。     

Synergistic extraction of uranium with mixtures of PC88A and neutral oxodonors

The extraction of uranium(VI) from nitric acid medium is investigated using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid-mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (PC88A in dimeric form, H₂A₂) as extractant either alone or in combination with neutral extractants such as tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP), trioctyl phosphine oxide (TOPO), and dioctyl sulfoxide (DOSO). The effects of different experimental parameters such as aqueous phase acidity (up to 10 M HNO₃), nature of diluent [xylene, carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), n-dodecane and methyl iso-butyl ketone (MIBK)] and of temperature (303–333 K) on the extraction behavior of uranium were investigated. Synergistic extraction of uranium was observed between 0.5 and 6 M HNO₃. Use of MIBK as diluent was also studied. Temperature variation studies using PC88A as extractant showed exothermic nature of extraction process. Studies were carried out to optimize the conditions for the recovery of uranium from the raffinate generated during the purification of uranium from nitric acid medium. Inductively Couple Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) techniques were employed for analysis of uranium in equilibrated samples.     

Extraction of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) from nitric acid solution by N-alkylcaprolactam

Extraction of uranium(VI), thorium(IV) from nitric acid has been studied with N-octylcaprolactam and N-(2-ethyl)hexylcaprolactam. Distribution coefficients of U(VI), Th(IV) and HNO₃ as a function of aqueous NHO₃ concentration, extractant concentration and temperature have been studied. The compositions of extracted species, thermodynamic parameters of extraction have been evaluated. Third phase formation in extraction of U(VI) has been studied. Back extraction behavior of U(VI) and Th(IV) from the organic phase has also been tested. The results obtained are compared with those obtained by using TBP under the same experimental conditions.