Selective separation and reversed phase extraction of zirconium and hafnium from a multitracer solution

The solvent extraction of Zr and Hf was studied using 444-trifluoro-1-(2-thienyl)-1,3-butanedione (TTA) from a multitracer solution containing carrier-free radioisotopes of Zr, Hf, and other elements. The multitracer was prepared from Au foil irradiated with high-energy heavy-ion beams. Effects of HCl and HNO₃ concentrations and organic solvent on the extraction and coextraction of other radionuclides have been studied. It was found that decalin (decahydronaphthalene) was the best solvent among 14 solvents studied and the optimum aqueous phase was 2 mol·dm^–3 HCl or HNO₃. About 2–10% of Sr, Rb, Sc and Nb were coextracted with Zr and Hf. The reversed phase extraction of Zr and Hf was also developed by using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution at pH range of 8.5–10.