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Determination of alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions in UO2, ThO2 powders and sintered (Th,U)O2 pellets by ion chromatography

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Abstract

An ion chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of traces of Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, Fe3+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Mn2+ in UO2, ThO2 powders and sintered (Th,U)O2 pellets. This new method utilizes poly-(butadiene-maleic acid) (PBDMA) coated silica cation exchange column and mixed functionality column of anion and cation exchange to achieve the separation of alkali, alkaline earths and transition metal ions, respectively. It involves matrix separation after sample dissolution by solvent extraction with TBP (tri butyl phosphate)-TOPO (tri octyl phosphine oxide)/CCl4. Interference of transition metal ions in the determination of alkali, alkaline earth metal ions are removed by using pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDCA) in the tartaric acid mobile phase. Mobile phase composition is optimized for the base line separation of alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions. Linear calibration graphs in the range 0.01–20 μg mL−1 were obtained with regression coefficients better than 0.999. The respective relative standard deviations were also determined. Recoveries of the spiked samples are within ±10% of the expected value. The developed method is authenticated by comparison with certified standards of UO2 and ThO2 powders.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere thanks to all members of Chemical Quality Control section of AFFF who have supported us during the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility, Nuclear Fuels Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Tarapur, 401502, India

    Anoop Kelkar, Amrit Prakash, Mohd. Afzal, J. P. Panakkal & H. S. Kamath

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  1. Anoop Kelkar
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  2. Amrit Prakash
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  3. Mohd. Afzal
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  4. J. P. Panakkal
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  5. H. S. Kamath
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Correspondence to J. P. Panakkal.

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Kelkar, A., Prakash, A., Afzal, M. et al. Determination of alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions in UO2, ThO2 powders and sintered (Th,U)O2 pellets by ion chromatography. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 284, 443–449 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-010-0491-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-010-0491-y

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