Application of flow electrolysis to mass spectrometry of tetravalent actinides

Yanagisawa, Kayo   ; Matsueda, Makoto   ; Oka, Toshitaka   ; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro  

Np is a highly radiotoxic actinide with a long half-life (2.1410 years). Driven by ageing nuclear reactors and increasing of radioactive waste, its analytical methods are of great interest in fields such as decommissioning, radioactive waste management, and environmental monitoring. To meet the growing global demand, time-efficient and high-throughput analytical methods are essential. In this study, we propose a sequential pretreatment process to simplify valency adjustment and chemical separation for determination of Np by mass spectrometry. By using flow electrolysis in a flow cell, 945% of pentavalent Np was successfully reduced to tetravalent at an optimized sample flow rate without the addition of reducing agents. We demonstrated the analytical performance of the proposed method, which combines flow electrolysis with a PEEK column filled with TEVA resin, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.