Separation of uranium(VI) from Fe(II), Ni(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) by electrophoresis using diethyldithiophosphoric acid

Paper electrophoresis has been used for uranium(VI) separation from Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II). The background electrolyte (0.1M HNO₃-NaNO₃) at different pH values contains diethyldithiophosphoric acid as complexing agent. A plot of mobility versus pH is used to obtain information on the formation of dithiophosphate complexes and to compute the stability constant of an uranyldiethyldithiophosphate complex.