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Determination of tritium enrichment parameters of a commercially available PEM electrolyzer: a comparison with conventional enrichment electrolysis

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Abstract

Aqueous tritium enrichment parameters of a commercially available Iridium/Platinum (Ir/Pt) polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) cell were determined after electrolysis of tritium aqueous standards, and compared to those of a conventional Nickel/Iron (Ni/Fe) electrochemical cell. Lower aqueous enrichment is seen in the Ir/Pt PEM electrolyzer in comparison to the conventional Ni/Fe electrolytic cell. This is explained by the values found for the PEM cell fractionation factor β Ir/Pt and electrolytic fractionation factor β eIr/Pt values determined to be 4.7 ± 0.3 (β Ni/Fe = 26), and 6.6 ± 0.7 (β eNi/Fe = 37), respectively. A direct consequence of the Ir/Pt β e value is the richer tritium gas phase produced relative to the conventional cell, which is advantageous for direct reduction of HTO to HT gas.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Miami laboratory staff for their assistance in understanding the method used for tritium enrichment of environmental water samples, Dr. Stephen Creager for his assistance with the PEM cell work, and Mr. Ken Dunn for shop work. This work was funded by the Department of Energy under the DOE Environmental Management Science Program # DE-FG02-07ER64411 grant entitled “Radionuclide Sensors for Water Monitoring”.

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  1. Environmental Engineering and Earth Science Department, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634-0919, USA

    Aurelie M. Soreefan & Timothy A. DeVol

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  1. Aurelie M. Soreefan
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  2. Timothy A. DeVol
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Correspondence to Timothy A. DeVol.

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Soreefan, A.M., DeVol, T.A. Determination of tritium enrichment parameters of a commercially available PEM electrolyzer: a comparison with conventional enrichment electrolysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 282, 511–515 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0256-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0256-7

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