Mutual separation of Ln and An using TODGA and DTBA with high organic acid concentrations

Sasaki, Yuji  ; Kaneko, Masashi   ; Matsumiya, Masahiko*; Nakase, Masahiko*; Takeshita, Kenji*

Owing to the chemical behavior of trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions with similar ionic radii, realizing this separation is still challenging. All lanthanides, Am, and Cm can be extracted using diglycolamide (DGA), and relatively high An/Ln separation efficiencies have been obtained using diethylenetriamine-triacetic-bisamide (DTBA). To improve the previous results as well as the separation conditions, we used organic acids for pH adjustment. The advantages of this modification included low HNO, DTBA concentrations and pH stability owing to the addition of lactic acid. Under these modified conditions, the recovery rates observed were as follows: 97.1% for Nd with the co-existence of 1.59% Am in organic phase, and 98.4% for Am with the co-existence of 2.95% Nd in aqueous phase.