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Separation of thorium by facile liquid–liquid extraction, and its rapid spectrophotometric and ICP-AES determination in rocks and minerals

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Abstract

A novel method for simple, rapid and effective separation of thorium for it’s determination in geological samples such as rocks, and minerals has been developed. Thorium forms 1:2 neutral complex with the bi-dentate ligand, 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (2,3-H2ND), which is extracted into ethylacetate at pH 5–6. Thorium from the organic phase is quantitatively stripped off using dilute hydrochloric acid, and then determined spectrophotometrically as well as by ICP-AES. The effects of variables affecting the quantitative extraction of thorium have been studied in detail. The method has been validated by analyzing certified reference materials (CRM). RSD of the method varied over the range 1 to 5 %. The method has been successfully applied to rocks and minerals.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their sincere thanks and gratitude to Shri P.S.Parihar, Director, AMD for his kind permission to publish the paper. The authors are also thankful to Shri Promod Kumar, Regional Director and Shri G.S.Yadav, Dy. Regional Director, AMD, Eastern Region, Jamshedpur for providing necessary facilities to carry out the work. Also, the authors are thankful to Dr. G. Chakrapani, Head, Chemistry Group, for his constant encouragement to do the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Laboratory, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Department of Atomic Energy Eastern Region, AMD Complex Khasmahal, Jamshedpur, 831002, India

    Pranab Kumar Tarafder, Susanta Kumar Pradhan & Rabin Kumar Mondal

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  1. Pranab Kumar Tarafder
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  2. Susanta Kumar Pradhan
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  3. Rabin Kumar Mondal
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Correspondence to Pranab Kumar Tarafder.

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Tarafder, P.K., Pradhan, S.K. & Mondal, R.K. Separation of thorium by facile liquid–liquid extraction, and its rapid spectrophotometric and ICP-AES determination in rocks and minerals. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 309, 1021–1028 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-4738-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-4738-0

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