An extraction chromatographic resin material containing Aliquat 336 as the liquid anion exchanger extractant and Chromosorb W as the solid support was prepared and tested for the uptake of UO22+, Np4+, Pu4+, and Pu3+ from nitric acid feed solutions. The resin beads were characterized by thermogravimetry/differential thermogravimetry (TG/DTG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) surface morphology analysis. The uptake trend for the metal ions from 3 M HNO3 was found to be Pu4+ >> Np4+ >> UO22+ > Pu3+ which clearly followed the trend of their ionic potentials. In view of the significant difference in the uptake of Np4+ with respect to those of UO22+ and Pu3+, a separation scheme was developed for the selective separation of Np from feeds containing U, Np and Pu in nitric acid. The purity of the product was verified by alpha spectrometry.
Keywords: Extraction chromatography; Neptunium; Nitric acid; Plutonium; Uranium.
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