Anion-exchange separation of thorium and protactinium from uranium matrix

Summary The distribution behaviour of Th⁴⁺, Pa⁵⁺, and UO₂ ²⁺ ions between the anion-exchanger Amberlite IRA-400 and acetic acid-hydrochloric acid mixtures, has been investigated. It was found that the general behaviour of Th⁴⁺ ions is similar to that of UO₂ ²⁺ ions though the latter are much more highly adsorbed by the resin than Th⁴⁺. Protactinium exhibited a different behaviour from both Th⁴⁺ and UO₂ ²⁺ ions. The separation factors were calculated, and a Chromatographic procedure for sequential isolation of each element was developed.

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Zusammenfassung Das Verteilungsverhalten von Th⁴⁺, Pa⁵⁺ und UO₂ ²⁺ zwischen dem Anionenaustauscher Amberlit IRA-400 und Gemischen aus Essigsäure und Salzsäure wurde untersucht. Das allgemeine Verhalten von Th⁴⁺ ist ähnlich dem von Uranylionen, wenngleich letztere von dem Harz viel stärker adsorbiert werden als Th⁴⁺. Protactinium zeigt ein abweichendes Verhalten im Vergleich zu Th⁴⁺ und UO₂ ²⁺. Die Trennfaktoren wurden berechnet und ein chromatographisches Verfahren zur Isolierung der angeführten Ionen entwickelt.

     

Chromatographic separation of rare earths and uranium from thorium

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Fast and simple radiochemical method for the separation of uranium,thorium and lanthanum

The concept of using paper chromatography on papers impregnated with liquid anion or cation exchangers is extended to the separation of trace elements through filtration on filter papers loaded with suitable extractant. The uptake of uranium, thorium and lanthanum from HCl and HNO₃ media of different molarities by a filter paper treated with tri-octyl amine (TOA) is investigated. The effect of the different parameters on the uptake of the studied elements is experimented. A simple and fast radiochemical procedure is developed for the separation of La, Th and U from each other.     

Chemical separation of molybdenum from uranium and fission product nuclides

A very rapid method for the separation of molybdenum(VI) from neutron irradiated uranium and its fission products is described. The procedure is based on the selective extraction of molybdenum(VI) by a 0.1M solution of 2-hexylpyridine in benzene from 4M HCl+0.04M KSCN. Decontamination factors were estimated to be >10⁴ for the radionuclides of niobium, zirconium, ruthenium, lanthanum, cerium, promethium, yttrium, strontium and barium.     

A titrimetric method for the sequential determination of thorium and uranium

A method for the sequential determination of thorium and uranium has been developed. In the sample solution containing thorium and uranium, thorium is first determined by complexometric titration with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and then in the same solution uranium is determined by redox titration employing potentiometry. As EDTA interferes in uranium determination giving positive bias, it is destroyed by fuming with HClO₄ prior to the determination of uranium. A precision and accuracy of better than ±0.15% is obtained for thorium at 10mg level and uranium ranging from 5 mg to 20 mg in the aliquot.     

Ion-exchange separation of uranium,thorium and plutonium isotopes from environmental samples

Radioisotopes of uranium, thorium and plutonium in water, soil and fertilizer samples, have been chemically separated and determined by alpha-spectrometry method. Radiochemical procedure involving ion-exchange, enabled to determine these isotopes in very low concentrations (under 50 Bq/g).²³²U,²²⁹Th and²³⁸Pu were used as a tracers for radiochemical yield recoveries (up to 90%). Thin layer sources have been obtained by electrodeposition.     

Anion exchange separation of uranium, thorium and bismuth

Summary A method for the anion exchange separation of uranium, thorium and bismuth is described, using the strongly basic anion exchanger Dowex 1 X8. These three elements are simultaneously adsorbed on the resin (nitrate form) from a solution consisting of 96% n propanol and 4% 5 n nitric acid. The separation of thorium and bismuth from uranium is effected by washing the column with a mixture consisting of 80% methanol and 20% 5n nitric acid (elution of uranium). To separate thorium from bismuth the resin is then treated with a solution consisting of 80% methanol and 20% 6n hydrochloric acid whereby the thorium is eluted. Finally the bismuth is removed by washing the column with 1 n nitric acid. The experimental conditions for this separation scheme have been selected after the determination of the distribution coefficients of uranium, thorium, and bismuth in different mixtures of aliphatic alcohols with nitric and hydrochloric acid.

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Zusammenfassung Zur Trennung von Uran, Thorium und Wismut wird der stark basische Anionenaustauscher Dowex 1X8 verwendet. Aus einem Lösungsmittelgemisch von 96% n-Propanol und 4% 5n Salpetersäure werden die drei Elemente zusammen an dem Austauscher (Nitratform) adsorbiert. Mit einer Mischung von 80% Methanol und 20% 5n Salpetersäure wird sodann das Uran eluiert. Thorium wird mit einem Gemisch von 80% Methanol und 20% 6n Salzsäure ausgewaschen und schließlich wird mit 1 n Salpetersäure das Wismut von der Säule entfernt. Die Verteilungskoeffizienten der drei Metalle wurden in verschiedenen Gemischen von aliphatischen Alkoholen und Salz- sowie Salpetersäure bestimmt.

     

Paper chromatographic separation of thorium, zirconium and uranium

Summary The possibility of paper chromatographic separation of a number of elements (Th, U, Zr, Fe, Mg, Ni, Co, Ce, La, Y, Sm, Gd) has been studied, employing solvent mixtures containing tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as principal constituent. Various factors that influence the R_f values have been investigated. It has been made possible to separate only thorium and uranium from the other elements including the rare earths and also from one another. Only thorium and uranium move under the conditions studied, the others remain stationary on the starting line. The solvent mixture methylisobutyl ketone-isobutyl alcohol-TBP (503812) shaken with 4 M HNO₃ proved to be a good mobile solvent for the separation of thorium and uranium. Thorium has also been separated from monazite extract. A single chromatogenic spray (-SNADNS-6) has been used for the detection of all the elements. Thorium, uranium and zirconium have also been quantitatively estimated after chromatographic separation by EDTA titration using the same dye.

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Zusammenfassung Die Möglichkeit der papierchromatographischen Trennung verschiedener Elemente (Th, U, Zr, Fe, Mg, Ni, Co, Ce, La, Y, Sm, Gd) mit tributylphosphathaltigen Laufmitteln ist untersucht worden. Hierbei wurde die Beeinflussung der R_f-Werte durch verschiedene Faktoren geprüft und eine Möglichkeit zur Trennung von Thorium und Uran voneinander sowie von anderen Metallen gefunden. Als Laufmittel hat sich am besten das Gemisch Methylisobutylketon-Isobutanol-Tributylphosphat (503812), äquilibriert mit 4 n Salpetersäure, bewährt. Nur U und Th wandern, alle anderen Elemente bleiben auf der Startlinie. Thorium konnte auch aus Monazitextrakt abgetrennt werden. -SNADNS-6 dient als einziges Nachweisreagens für alle genannten Metalle und wird auch als Indicator benutzt bei der komplexometrischen Titration von Zr, Th und U im Anschluß an die papierchromatographische Abtrennung.

     

A method for the purification of bulk amount of thorium from its daughter products

A method has been developed to purify bulk amounts of natural thorium from its daughter products. The method is based on anion exchange separation of Th from Pb, Bi, Tl, Ra using Dowex 1 X 8 anion exchange resin conditioned to 2M HCl. The method has several advantages over other methods, namely the decontamination is quite high, Th separation is quantitative and it is suitable for the purification of bulk amounts of Th in a reasonably short time.     

Ion exchange separation of trace amounts of uranium and thorium in tantalum for neutron activation analysis

Separation method of a few ppb of uranium and thorium in tantalum metal by ion exchange for neutron activation analysis was established. After dissolving tantalum metal by hydrofluoric acid, uranium and thorium were separated from tantalum using cation exchange resin column in 0.5M hydrofluoric –0.65M boric acid media. Both of the yields for uranium and thorium during separation were above 95% and the remaining amount of tantalum be lowered below 400 ng.     

Trace and ultratrace analysis of purified water samples and hydrogen peroxide solutions for phosphorus by flow-injection method.

A highly sensitive fluorescence-quenching method for the determination of phosphorus based on the formation of an ion associate between molybdophosphate and Rhodamine B (RB) was developed. A simple flow-injection system coupled with a fluorescence detector was used to measure the fluorescence intensity at 560 nm and 580 nm as an excitation and an emission wavelength, respectively. The calibration graph for phosphorus showed a good linearity in the range of (0 - 1) x 10(-7) M (1 M = 1 mol L(-1)), and a detection limit of 1 x 10(-9) M (S/N = 3). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of ultratrace amounts of phosphorus in ultrapurified and purified water samples, and to the determination of trace amounts of phosphorus in commercially-available hydrogen peroxide solutions with satisfactory results.     

A new method for the preparation of molybdenum and tungsten oxotetrafluorides

Conclusions A new method has been proposed for the synthesis of molybdenum and tungsten oxotetrafluorides by the reaction of the metal trioxide with the corresponding hexafluoride in a glass reactor.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2643–2644, November, 1985.     

Chemical analysis of manganese nodules : Part II. Determination of uranium and thorium after anion-exchange separation

A method is described for the determination of uranium and thorium in manganese nodules. After dissolution of the sample in a mixture of perchloric and hydrofluoric acids, uranium is adsorbed on the strongly basic anion-exchange resin Dowex 1 (chloride form) from 6 M hydrochloric acid. The effluent is evaporated and the residue is taken up in 7 M nitric acid—0.25 M oxalic acid; thorium is then isolated quantitatively by anion-exchange on Dowex 1 (nitrate form). Thorium is eluted with 6 M hydrochloric acid and determined spectrophotometrically by the arsenazo III method. Uranium is eluted from the resin in the chloride form with 1 M hydrochloric acid and then separated from iron, molybdenum and other co-eluted elements on a column of Dowex 1 (chloride form); the medium consists of 50% (v/v) tetrahydrofuran, 40% (v/v) methyl glycol and 10% (vv) 6 M hydrochloric acid. After removal of iron and molybdenum by washing the resin with a mixture of the same composition and with pure aqueous 1 M hydrochloric acid, the adsorbed uranium is eluted with 1 M hydrochloric acid and determined by fluorimetry. The method was used successfully for the determination of ppm-quantities of uranium and thorium in 60 samples of manganese nodules from the Pacific Ocean.     

Liquid membranes for separating uranium from vanadium and uranium from molybdenum

This is the third paper in which we describe the transport of uranium ions through liquid membranes. The subject of this paper is the use of liquid membranes to separate uranium from other metals that are present in hydrometallurgical leach solutions derived from uranium ores. It is demonstrated that liquid membranes can cleanly separate uranium from vanadium. The separation of uranium and molybdenum is also investigated. Although this separation is not as clean as that of uranium and vanadium, the results indicate that further refinement of operating conditions of the liquid membrane could lead to substantial improvement. Based on the potential of the membranes to separate the various metal ions, several process schemes are suggested that could be used to recover uranium from hydrometallurgical leach solutions     

A separation of protactinium from neutron-irradiated thorium

A convenient-method, based on liquid-liquid extraction with N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine in chloroform, is given for the separation of protactinium-233 from neutron-irradiated thorium.     

A sequential radiochemical procedure for isotopic analysis of uranium and thorium in soil

A sequential radiochemical procedure for isotopic analysis of uranium and thorium in soil has been developed. Analysis involves total dissolution of the samples to allow equilibration of the natural isotopes with added tracers, followed by radiochemical separation using anion exchange chromatography (BioRad AG 1–X8). Further separation and purification is performed employing solvent extraction techniques. Finally, the U and Th fractions are co-precipitated with lanthanum and cerium fluoride, respectively, and quantified by alpha-particle spectrometry. Overall chemical yields range from 60 to 90%. Under normal operating conditions and present counting set up, the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) is approximately 2 Bq/kg for soil samples. This is based on one gram aliquot of sample, 80% chemical yield, and 1000 minute counting with a detector having about 15% counting efficiency. The procedure has been successfully tested with Standard Reference Materials. Various soil samples were analyzed with high chemical yields and fine quality of alpha-spectra. Decontamination factor studies were performed to determine the extent of the carry over of²¹⁰Po,²²⁵Ac,²²⁶Ra, and²²⁹Th into U fraction and²¹⁰Po,²²⁵Ac,²²⁶Ra, and²³²U into Th fraction.     

Ultratrace analysis of uranium and thorium in glass

It is today a most common phenomenon that ultratrace analyses for quality control have to be carried out in industrial laboratories far from optimum conditions and in spite of the lack of best suited equipment. It was against this setting that the development of a method for the photometric determination of uranium- and thorium-traces in glasses with arsenazo III was envisaged. The method basically consists of a digestion with HF/HClO₄/H₃BO₃, an extractive preseparation of interfering Ti- and Zr-traces with TTFA/hexanol/CCl₄, an extractive separation of U- and Th-traces with TTFA/TBP/toluene and a final determination of thorium alone (in the presence of photometrically inactive U(VI)) and the sum of Th+U(IV) with arsenazo III.The concentration of uranium is calculated from the difference of the sum of both traces minus the thorium content. Uranium can be determined with nearly the same sensitivity as thorium after reduction to uranium(IV). The most suitable reducing agent for uranium(VI) to uranium(IV) is a mixture of Na₂S₂O₄/CH₂O. An optimization of the arsenazo III concentration for the determination of thorium and uranium yielded an optimal concentration of 80 mg/L arsenazo III: For the reduction of uranium concentrations of 2 g/L of Na₂S₂O₄ and 3.2 g/L CH₂O proved to be optimal. Interferences of this photometric end determination by titanium, zirconium and scandium were investigated quantitatively. The permissible excess for these elements was found to be so low that a trace-trace separation method proved to be necessary. Separation methods were checked for the separation of the matrix components of the investigated glasses from thorium and uranium. One of these methods was suitable after optimization: thorium and uranium are extracted with TTFA/TBP/toluene from a solution containing hydrochloric acid. Back-extraction is carried out with HCl/KMnO₄. For the separation of titanium- and zirconium-cotraces an extra separation method had to be developed: they are extracted with TTFA/hexanol/CCl₄ before the separation of uranium- and thorium-traces from the matrix. The glasses were digested with HF/HX. Fluoride from the hydrofluoric acid is incompletely removed by evaporation and interferes with the extraction of uranium and thorium due to complex formation. Depending on the digestion variant used 162 to 0.23 mg F^– remain in the residue of the digestion of a 5 g sample. This interference was eliminated by a digestion with HF/HClO₄/H₃BO₃ and masking of residual fluoride with AlCl₃.Abbreviations used Arsenazo III 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid-2,7-bis [(azo-2)-phenylarsonic acid] - Arsenazo I 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulphonic acid-2-[(azo-2)-phenylarsonic acid] - BPAP 2- (5-Bromo-2-pyridy] azo)-5-diethylaminophenol - EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid - HX Designation for a high boiling mineral acid - FAAS Flame atomic absorption spectrometry - FOD 1,1,1,2,3,3,-Heptafluor-7, dimethyl-4,6-octanedione - GFAAS Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry - ICP-MS Inductively coupled plasma — mass spectrometry - ICP-OES Inductively coupled plasma — optical emission spectrometry - LAS Liquid absorption spectrophotometry (classical photometry) - m(Th) Mass of thorium - NAA Neutron activation analysis - pK_Diss Negative logarithm to the base 10 of the dissociation constant of a complex - TBP Tri-(n-butyl)-phosphate - TOPO Tri(n-octyl)-phosphinoxide - TTFA 1-(2-Thenoyl)-3,3,3-trifluoroacetone     

Ultratrace analysis of uranium and thorium in glass

Three methods of determination for uranium and thorium traces and ultratraces in glass were developed: a simple and powerful ICP-MS method exhibiting limits of determination in the one ng/g-range; a complex method with end-determination by classical photometry and a limit of determination for U and Th of 20 ng/g; and a method with chelate-complex formation for U and Th and subsequent GC-detection with a ⁶³Ni-ECD with limits of determination in the g/g-range. These methods are critically compared and tested for real type samples of special glasses.Abbreviations used AAS Atomic absorption spectrophotometry - ECD Electron capture detector - FOD 1,1,1,2,2,3,3-Heptafluoro-7,7-dimethyl-4,6-octanedion - GC Gas chromatography - HFA 1,1,1,5,5,5-Hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedione - ICP-AES, -MS Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry, metry, -mass spectrometry - LAS Liquid absorption spectrophotometry = classical photometry - NAA Neutron activation analysis - NIST National Institute of Standardization and Technology (Gaithersburg, U.S.A.) - TBP Tri-(n-butyl)-phosphate - TFA 1,1,1-Trifluoro-2,4-pentanedione - TTFA 1-(2-Thenoyl)-3,3,3-trifluoroacetone - XRS X-ray (fluorescence) spectrometry