Synergistic Extraction of Trivalent Actinides by Mixtures of Thenoyltrifluoroacetone and Neutral Oxo Donors

Abstract
The synergistic extraction of trivalent actinides Am, Cm, Bk, and Cf has been studied by mixtures of HTTA and TOPO as well as DOSO in xylene at 30°C. HTTA-S (TOPO, DOSO) interaction corrections have been applied to calculate the “free” S concentrations in the organic phase. In the extraction of trivalent actinides, the third-power dependence on [HTTA]org at a fixed [S]org has been observed only after applying this correction. The synergistic species M(TTA)3.S and M(TTA)3.2S were found to be extracted into the organic phase whose stability constants (β1, β2, and K 2) have been evaluated. Extraction by HTTA + S(S = TOPO, DOSO, TBP, TBTP) shows the order of extraction to be Tm > Cf > Bk > Eu > Pm > Am > Cm for the trivalent ions. The Am/Cm separation factor with the synergistic mixtures is ∼3 whereas with HTTA alone it is ∼6 when they are extracted from the chloroacetate buffer.

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