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Studies on the solvent extraction of thorium

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Summary

The solvent extraction separation of thorium with tri-n-octyl-phosphine oxide was studied. Thorium was determined in gross quantities of uranium compounds using a two-cycle solvent extraction procedure in the presence of EDTA. Uranium was shown to be preferentially extracted by TOPO from a 2M nitrate solution. In addition, it was found that yttrium and the rare earths are extracted by TOPO. Elimination of this interference was accomplished by backwashing with a fresh 2M nitrate wash solution. The methods developed are rapid, selective, and sensitive for the spectrophotometric determination of thorium and yttrium. The systems obey Beer's law under all concentration ranges studied, and by proper choice of final concentration and absorbance cells, the methods can be applied over wide ranges of concentration.

Zusammenfassung

Die Abtrennung von Thorium durch Extraktion mit Tri-n-oktylphos-phinoxid (TOPO) wurde untersucht. In großen Mengen Uranverbindungen wurde Thorium mit Hilfe eines Zweiphasenganges in Gegenwart von ÄDTA extrahiert. Uran wird zuvor mit TOPO aus 2-m Nitratlösung extrahiert. Außerdem werden, wie sich gezeigt hat, Yttrium und die seltenen Erden mit TOPO extrahiert. Diese Störung wurde durch Rückextraktion mit einer frischen 2-m Nitratwaschlösung beseitigt. Die rasche, selektive und empfind-liche Arbeitsweise eignet sich zur spektrophotometrischen Bestimmung von Thorium und Yttrium. Die Lösungen entsprechen in allen untersuchten Konzentrationsbereichen dem Beerschen Gesetz. Bei richtiger Wahl der Endkonzentration und der Absorptionskuvetten kann die Methode für ein breites Konzentrationsgebiet verwendet werden.

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Author notes

  1. Bryan Madison

    Present address: Proctor & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Memphis State University, 38152, Memphis, Tenn., USA

    John C. Guyon & Bryan Madison

Authors
  1. John C. Guyon
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  2. Bryan Madison
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Supported by AF-AFOSR—205-65.

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Guyon, J.C., Madison, B. Studies on the solvent extraction of thorium. Mikrochim Acta 63, 133–144 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01271530

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01271530

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