Liquid-liquid extraction separation of uranium(VI) from associated elements using dibenzo-24-crown-8 from hydrobromic acid medium

Liquid-liquid extraction of uranium (VI) from hydrobromic acid solutions with dibenzo-24-crown-8 in nitrobenzene have been investigated. Uranium(VI) was quantitatively extracted from 6.0–8.0M hydrobromic acid with 0.001–0.01M dibenzo-24-crown-8 and was quantitatively stripped from the organic phase with 0.1–1.0M hydrochloric acid, 0.5–10M nitric acid, 2–10M perchloric acid, 3.0–10M sulfuric acid or 3.0–10M acetic acid. It was possible to separate uranium(VI) from a number of elements in binary mixtures. Most of the elements showed very high tolerance limit Uranium(VI) was also separated from a number of associated elements in multicomponent mixtures. The method is very simple, selective, rapid and highly reproducible (approximately±2%) and was applied to the analysis of uranium in geological samples.