Separation Science and Technology, Vol.35, No.7, 1011-1019, 2000
A rapid method for the extraction and separation of uranium from thorium and other accompanying elements using octadecyl silica membrane disks modified by tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide
A simple method for rapid and selective separation of uranyl ion from Th4+ and other accompanying elements by using octadecyl silica membrane disks modified with tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) in the presence of 0.5 M HNO3 is presented. The influences of type and concentration of acid, nature of ligands, flow rates, and nature of stripping agents have been investigated. Maximum capacity of the membrane disks modified by 50 mg TOPO was found to be 938 mu g of uranium. The method was applied to the recovery of uranyl ion from two different soil samples.