Adsorption behaviour of scandium,yttrium, cerium and uranium from xylenol orange solutions onto anionexchange resins

The effects of concentration, pH and anions on the adsorption behaviour of xylenol orange (XO) on the strong anion exchangers, Amberlite IRA-400 and Hitachi 2632 are described. The adsorption behaviour of the XO complexes of Ce(III), Y(III), Sc(III) and U(VI) on the Amberlite IRA-400 resin as a function of XO concentration and pH is reported. A continuous-flow radiometric detector is used to investigate the separations of the Ce(III)—Sc(III), Y(III)—Sc(III), and Ce(III)—Y(III) pairs on the XO-form Hitachi 2632 resin column by pH control. Satisfactory separations of the Ce(III)—Sc(III) and Y(III)—Sc(III) pairs are achieved.