Radiochemical separation of110mAg,210Pb,127Te and131I from aqueous nitric acid solution by bis-2-(butoxyethyl ether)

A bis-2-(butoxyethyl ether) (DBC) solvent extraction method has been developed for the radiochemical separation of^110mAg,²¹⁰Pb,¹²⁷Te and¹³¹I in varying concentrations of aqueous HNO₃. Various factors were examined to determine the optimum conditions of extraction. The effect of various masking agents has been studied. The extraction of¹³¹I is enhanced to 99% at 2.4M HNO₃ in the presence of KSCN.¹³¹I was stripped into aqueous sodium hydroxide from the oxygenated organic extractant. The method was then applied for the recovery of¹³¹I from neutron irradiated tellurium metal. The mechanism and reactivity of DBC with metal ions is described.