Modelling of the Am(III) – Cm(III) kinetic separation effect observed during metal ion extraction by bis-(1,2,4)-triazine ligands |
| |
| Authors: | Petr Distler Karel Stamberg Laurence M Harwood Frank W Lewis |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Nuclear Chemistry, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague 1, Czech Republic;2. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Reading, UK;3. Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK |
| |
| Abstract: | The kinetic separation effect was observed leading to a separation factor for Am(III) over Cm(III) as high as 7.9 by using 2,9-bis-(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenantroline (BTPhen) ligands in our recent study. In an attempt to explain the observed tendencies, several kinetic models were tested. A model based on mass transfer as the rate-controlling process was found to best describe the kinetic data and allowed to simulate the dependence of Am/Cm separation factor on time. The calculated values of the overall mass-transfer coefficients confirmed that the observed kinetic effect was caused by the different rates of Am(III) and Cm(III) extraction. This kinetic separation phenomenon and its explanation paves the way for potential new approaches to separation of metal ions with very similar properties, such as the adjacent minor actinides Am(III) and Cm(III). |
| |
| Keywords: | Am(III) Cm(III) bis-(1 2 4)-triazine ligands BTPhen ligands kinetic separation effect liquid-liquid extraction |
|
|
