Extraction and separation studies of uranium/VI/with tris-/2-ethyl hexyl/phosphate

A solvent extraction method is proposed for the extraction and separation of uranium from salicylate media using tris-/2-ethyl hexyl/ phosphate dissolved in xylene as an extractant. The optimum conditions were evaluated from a critical study of pH, salicylate concentration, extractant concentration, period of equilibration and diluent. The method permits the separation of uranium from thorium, cerium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, copper, vanadium and chromium from binary mixtures and is applicable to the analysis of uranium in synthetic samples. The method is precise, accurate, fast and selective.