Rapid ion-exchange separations of actinides

For the purpose of studying short-lived actinide nuclides, three methods for rapid ion exchange separation of actinide elements with mineral acid-alcohol mixed media have been developed: (1) anion exchange with nitric acid-methyl alcohol mixed media to separate the transplutonium and rare earth elements from target material, U or Pu, and Al catcher foils; (2) anion exchange with hydrochloric acid-methyl alcohol media to separate Am+Cm, Bk and Cf+Fm from the target, catcher foils and major fission products; (3) cation exchange with hydrochloric acid-methyl alcohol media and with concentrated hydrochloric acid to separate the transplutonium elements as a group from the rare earths after eliminating the large amounts of U, Al, Cu, Fe etc. The methods enable one to perform rapid and effective separation at elevated temperature (90 °C) and immediate source preparation for alpha-ray spectrometry.     

Optimization of two-dimensional gradient liquid chromatography separations

An almost orthogonal comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography was developed for the separation of phenolic and flavone natural antioxidants by using combinations of a polyethylene glycol silica micro-column in the first dimension and a porous-shell fused-core C18 column in the second dimension, both in the reversed-phase mode. System orthogonality was improved using parallel gradients of acetonitrile in buffered mobile phase. A new approach was proposed to optimize matching segmented gradient profiles in the two dimensions. An algorithm was developed for automatic corrections of the shifts in retention in the second dimension induced by the parallel two-dimensional gradient operation technique. Using the porous-shell C18 column in the second dimension at elevated temperature (60 degrees C) and high pressure (480 bar) with optimized segmented profiles of the parallel gradients in the two dimensions, the overall separation time for comprehensive LC x LC was reduced to 30 min.     

Development of automated separations for actinides analysis

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Novel methods for sample preparation by adapting an automated chromatography system to radiochemical analysis for analysis of trace impurities is...     

Sequential separation of actinides by ion chromatography coupled with on-line scintillation detection

The separation and measurement of actinides by ion chromatography (IC) coupled with on-line scintillation detection was investigated. Separation of (237)Np, (239)Pu, (241)Am, (244)Cm, (230)Th, and (233)U was accomplished using a Dionex CG5 guard column, CS5 separation column, and an elution program utilizing oxalic, diglycolic, and nitric acid eluents. Np(V) was eluted as a weak anionic oxalate complex or as free NpO(2)(+) cation, Am(III) and Cm(III) as anionic oxalate complexes, Pu(IV) and Th(IV) as nonionic diglycolate complexes, and U(VI) as a free uranyl cation. Response of the flow-cell detector was linear over the full range of activities tested (4-1500 Bq). The minimum detectable activities for the investigated analytes ranged from 3.6 Bq for (244)Cm to 5.4 Bq for (230)Th and (239)Pu. The corresponding minimum detectable concentrations based on a 1-L sample ranged from 3.6 to 5.4 KBq m(-3) (96 to 150 pCi L(-1)).     

Improvement in flow-sheet of extraction chromatography for trivalent minor actinides recovery

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Extraction chromatography flow-sheet employing octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbonoylmethylphosphine oxide and bis(2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphate...     

Automated pressurized injection system for the separation of actinides by extraction chromatography

This article describes a novel separation scheme developed for an automated system to efficiently separate actinides in individual fractions. The automated pressurized injection (PI) system developed allows precise collection of high-purity actinide fractions (≥99 %) at elevated flow rates (15–30 mL min^?1) using two extraction chromatographic TEVA and DGA resins. This system is sufficiently robust to enable the use of highly viscous acid media, limit acid corrosion, and tolerate large amount of gases generated by redox reactions by some of the reagents. The PI system was successfully applied to the separation of actinides in individual fractions (recovery yield ≥97 % for Th, U, Np, Pu, and Am) and shows the absence of cross contamination even with highly concentrated actinide solutions. The methodology was also applied to the measurement of actinides in large spiked soil samples.     

Analytical separations of lanthanides and actinides by capillary electrophoresis

The separation of lanthanide and actinide elements belongs to one of the most challenging tasks of the separation science, due to a great similarity in their physical and chemical properties. The electrophoretic separation can be accomplished in the presence of suitable complex-forming agents, from which alpha-hydroxyisobutyric acid (HIBA) has been used most often. In the most effective capillary electrophoretic mode--capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE)--a complete separation of lanthanide ions can be accomplished within a few minutes. Various electrophoretic methods can be relatively easily adopted for the determinations of individual lanthanide elements in certain kinds of technical materials, concentrates, precursors, etc., where the high speed and low costs of analysis characteristics of capillary electrophoresis (CE) may be advantageously exploited. Electrophoretic techniques may also be employed for speciation studies, especially for examinations of the behavior of actinides in the environment.     

Dioctyltin and tributyltin detection at trace levels in water and beverages by capillary gas chromatography with flame photometric detection

A simple chromatographic procedure has been developed for the sensitive determination of dioctyltin and tributyltin compounds in water and beverages. Dioctyltin and tributyltin react with NaBH₄ at pH 5 to produce volatile hydrides which can be quantitatively extracted into CH₂Cl₂. The corresponding dioctyltin hydride derivative is identified by HPLC-ES-MS and measured by flame photometric detection using the quartz surface-induced tin emission. Detection limits of less than 0.7 pg of tributyltin and 10 pg of dioctyltin were achieved. Results showed that up to 9.5 ng/mL levels of dioctyltin were present in beverages. Received: 20 July 1998 / Revised: 26 August 1998 / Accepted: 28 August1998     

Dioctyltin and tributyltin detection at trace levels in water and beverages by capillary gas chromatography with flame photometric detection

A simple chromatographic procedure has been developed for the sensitive determination of dioctyltin and tributyltin compounds in water and beverages. Dioctyltin and tributyltin react with NaBH₄ at pH 5 to produce volatile hydrides which can be quantitatively extracted into CH₂Cl₂. The corresponding dioctyltin hydride derivative is identified by HPLC-ES-MS and measured by flame photometric detection using the quartz surface-induced tin emission. Detection limits of less than 0.7 pg of tributyltin and 10 pg of dioctyltin were achieved. Results showed that up to 9.5 ng/mL levels of dioctyltin were present in beverages. Received: 20 July 1998 / Revised: 26 August 1998 / Accepted: 28 August1998     

Rapid analysis of trace levels of antibiotic polyether ionophores in surface water by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with ion trap tandem mass spectrometric detection

The occurrence of antibiotics in surface and ground water is an emerging area of interest due to the potential impacts of these compounds on the environment. This paper details a rapid, sensitive and reliable analytical method for the determination of monensin A and B, salinomycin and narasin A in surface water using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) with selected reaction monitoring (SRM). Several product ions as sodiated sodium salts for MS-MS detection have been identified and documented with their proposed fragmentation pathways. Statistical analysis for determination of the method detection limit (MDL), accuracy and precision of the method is described. The average recovery of ionophore antibiotics in pristine and wastewater-influenced water was 96.0+/-8.3% and 93.8+/-9.1%, respectively. No matrix effect was seen with the surface water. MDL was between 0.03 and 0.05 microg/L for these antibiotic compounds in the surface water. The accuracy and day-to-day variation of method fell within acceptable ranges. The method is applied to evaluate to the occurrence of these compounds in a small watershed in Northern Colorado. The method verified the presence of trace levels of these antibiotics in urban and agricultural land use dominated sections of the river.     

Analysis of trace levels of trichothecene mycotoxins in Austrian cereals by gas chromatography with electron capture detection

Summary Various analytical methods developed for trichothecene determination, including TLC, HPLC, GC, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and enzyme immuno assay (EIA) are reviewed. In addition a new method is described for the simultaneous determination of the trichothecene mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), T-2 toxin (T-2), HT-2 toxin (HT-2) and T-2 triol (TRIOL), in Austrian wheat and corn samples by GC-ECD. A clean-up procedure has been developed using a combination of liquid-liquid and liquid-solid extraction. Trichothecenes were detected as their heptafluorobuturyl esters or alternatively as trimethylsilyl ethers (only sensitive for deoxynivalenol and nivalenol) using nandrolone or chloramphenicol as internal standard. Four derivatization techniques using HFBI, HFBA+DMAP on polystyrene, TMSI and TMSI+BSA+TMCS have been studied and the advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. Quantification of trichothecenes from 10 to 1000 ppb in cereals could be accomplished routinely.Presented at the 19th ISC, Aix-en-Provence, France, September 13–18, 1992.     

Optimization of the coupling of high-temperature liquid chromatography and flame ionization detection application to the separations of alcohols

The feasibility of coupling high-temperature liquid chromatography (HTLC) to flame ionization detection (FID) has been studied. FID parameter values (hydrogen flow-rate, air flow-rate and FID temperature), typically set in gas chromatography are rarely suitable for liquid chromatography. Best values depend obviously on the water flow rate which is defined depending on both column temperature and column internal diameter. The FID parameters were optimized according to the water flow-rate by means of an experimental design. The potential of the method is shown with some alcohol separations and the value of increasing column temperature while reducing the column diameter is highlighted.     

Determination of minor and trace volatile compounds in wine by solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection

A new method for the quantitative determination of important wine odorants has been developed. The wine (50 ml) is extracted in a 200 mg solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge filled with Lichrolut-EN resins from Merck. The elution is carried out with 1.3 ml of dichloromethane. These extracts are directly analyzed by GC-Ion Trap-MS without further concentration. Twenty-seven important wine odorants, such as volatile phenols, vanillin derivatives, aliphatic lactones, nor-isoprenoids, minor esters and terpenols, can be quantitatively determined in a single gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) run. The recoveries in the SPE isolation are in good agreement with those expected from the calculation of breakthrough volumes from solid-liquid distribution coefficients and are higher than 90%, except for guaiacol, vanillin, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 4-vinylphenol. In most cases, precision is below 10%. Method linearity is satisfactory, with r2 higher than 0.99 in all cases. The analysis of spiked samples has shown that there is good agreement between the real mass of compound added to the wine and that determined by analysis. In all cases detection limits are below the odor detection threshold of the compounds, and the calibrated interval covers the natural range of occurrence of the compounds in wine.     

Speciation methods of actinides in trace concentrations

The development of actinide speciation methods in the environment is discussed. The results on speciation and migration of radionuclides in near-surface and deep conditions at the Krasnoyarsk mining and chemical plant and at the Production Association ‘Mayak’ (southern Ural) are reported. For surface conditions, the mobile plutonium fraction is mostly associated with inorganic complexes (carbonate) of the higher plutonium oxidation state, while less mobile fraction is associated with low-soluble Pu(IV) complexes with humic acids. The mobile fraction of americium consists of complexes with low molecular weight fulvic acids of non-specific nature with molecular weights lower than 10 kDa. Plutonium and americium behaviour in deep conditions is governed by colloid migration. To cite this article: A.P. Novikov et al., C. R. Chimie 7 (2004).

Résumé

Méthodes de spéciation des actinides en traces. Le développement de méthodes pour la spéciation des actinides dans l’environnement est discuté. Nous présentons des résultats concernant la spéciation et la migration des radionucléides dans des conditions de sub-surface et en milieux géologiques profonds à la mine de Krasnoyarsk et à l’usine chimique de Mayak (Oural du Sud). En conditions de sub-surface, la fraction mobile contient essentiellement des complexes inorganiques (carbonates) de Pu dans ses degrés d’oxydation élevés, tandis que la fraction moins mobile contient des complexes insolubles du Pu(IV), avec des acides humiques. La fraction mobile de Am comporte des complexes d’acides fulviques de nature non précisée, mais d’une masse molaire inférieure à 10 kDa. En conditions de milieu profond, le comportement de Am et de Pu est influencé par la migration des colloïdes. Pour citer cet article : A.P. Novikov et al., C. R. Chimie 7 (2004).     

Rapid americium separations from complex matrices using commercially available extraction chromatography resins

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A method for rapid separation of americium from complex matrices by use of two commercially available extraction chromatography resins is...     

高放废液中分离回收镧系-锕系元素萃取剂的研究进展

概述了近十几年来国内外有关用于高放废液镧系-锕系元素萃取分离中新萃取剂的研究进展,并对酰胺类、硫代磷类、硫代吡唑啉酮类等新萃取剂的设计筛选等进行了讨论。     

Pesticide trace analysis using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography with electron-capture and tandem mass spectrometric detection in water samples

Gas chromatography (GC) with electron-capture detection (ECD), mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) were employed for the identification of 12 pesticides in water samples. For this purpose, a solid-phase extraction procedure with C18 cartridges was used, optimising the breakthrough volume and the saturation concentration. In GC-MS-MS, the lowest detectable concentrations for the pesticides were between 2 and 26 ng l(-1), recoveries ranged from 70 to 133% in water samples spiked at 100 ng l(-1) and the relative standard deviations were in the range 5.3 to 17.4%. The proposed analytical methodology was applied to analyse pesticides in wetland samples from Almería (Spain).     

Determination of plutonium isotope ratios at very low levels by ICP-MS using on-line electrochemically modulated separations

Electrochemically modulated separations (EMS) are shown to be a rapid and selective means of extracting and concentrating Pu from complex solutions prior to isotopic analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). This separation is performed in a flow injection mode, on‐line with the ICP‐MS. A three‐electrode, flow‐by electrochemical cell is used to accumulate Pu at an anodized glassy carbon electrode by redox conversion of Pu(III) to Pu (IV&VI). The entire process takes place in 2% (v/v) (0.46 M) HNO₃. No redox chemicals or acid concentration changes are required. Plutonium accumulation and release is redox dependent and controlled by the applied cell potential. Large transient volumetric concentration enhancements can be achieved. Based on more negative U(IV) potentials relative to Pu(IV), separation of Pu from uranium is efficient, thereby eliminating uranium hydride interferences. EMS‐ICP‐MS isotope ratio measurement performance will be presented for femtogram to attogram level plutonium isotope injections.