Design of microchannel suitable for packing with anion exchange resins; Uranium separation from seawater containing a large amount of cesium

Ouchi, Kazuki  ; Tsukahara, Takehiko*; Brandt, A.*; Muto, Yuki*; Nabatame, Nozomi*; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro  

We attempted to scale down a separation process of uranium (U) using the microchip column loaded with anion exchange resin to develop safety and waste-reducing separation technique. The ideal separation performance of U was obtained by the properly design of a microchannel. The concentration of U in seawater as a real-world sample could be quantified with the prepared microchip column. It indicates that the microchip column is sufficiently practical. Compared to separation of U with a general column, the column size was successfully scaled down to 1/5000.