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Development of a separation method for rare earth elements using LN resin

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Abstract

The lanthanide elements and isotopes are analytes of significant interest for several nuclear-related fields, for example nuclear waste treatment, nuclear forensics, and nuclear safeguards. Chemical separation among these elements is uniquely challenging due to their nearly identical chemical properties. This difficulty in interelement separation can create obstacles for quantitative radiometric analysis, specifically for isotopes without distinct energy emissions easily measured by gamma spectrometry, e.g. 161Tb. This work presents an optimized method for the isolation of individual rare earth elements using LN resin.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NNSA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development, US Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05–76RLO1830. The authors would like to thank those who performed the ICP-OES and ICP-MS analyses for this work including Steven Baum, Ian Leavy, Eirik Krogstad, Sandra Pratt, and Michelle Snyder. We would also like to thank those who helped with the chemical separation experiments including Morgan Haney, Erin Morrison, Lanèe Snow, and Stephanie Tedrow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, MSIN J4-65, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    L. M. Arrigo, Z. S. Finch, J. M. Bowen, C. L. Beck, J. I. Friese, L. R. Greenwood & B. N. Seiner

  2. AWE plc, Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4PR, UK

    J. Jiang

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  1. L. M. Arrigo
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  2. J. Jiang
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  3. Z. S. Finch
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  4. J. M. Bowen
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  5. C. L. Beck
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  6. J. I. Friese
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  7. L. R. Greenwood
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  8. B. N. Seiner
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Correspondence to B. N. Seiner.

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Arrigo, L.M., Jiang, J., Finch, Z.S. et al. Development of a separation method for rare earth elements using LN resin. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 327, 457–463 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07488-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07488-9

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