Precipitation of barium chromate from homogeneous solution using complexation and replacement A separation of barium from relatively large amounts of strontium and lead

A new procedure is presented that efficiently separates barium from relatively large amounts of strontium and lead. The barium is precipitated as the chromate from a solution in which the multivalent cations are complexed with EDTA. The barium ions are homogeneously released in solution when magnesium ions are slowly introduced into the solution. The magnesium ions gradually replace the barium ions from their EDTA complexes, bringing about a precipitation of barium chromate from homogeneous solution.

This slow formation of barium chromate crystals holds co-precipitation to a minimum and produces crystals that are easily filtered and washed. More than 99.7% of the barium can be precipitated as the chromate, with less than 0.6% of the strontium, when the two ions are in equal molar concentration.