Tsuyoshi Yaita

Influence of Extractant Aggregation on the Extraction of Trivalent f‐Element Cations by a Tetraalkyldiglycolamide

Abstract The influence of nitric acid extraction on the aggregation state of 0.10 M N,N,N′,N′‐tetra‐n‐octyl‐3‐oxapentane‐1,5‐diamide (TODGA) in n‐octane or n‐heptane was studied by small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) and vapor pressure osmometry (VPO). When the equilibrium concentration of nitric acid in the aqueous phase is less than 0.7 M, TODGA exists as a mixture of monomers and dimers. As the aqueous phase acidity is increased, the extractant molecules form higher aggregates containing up to an average of seven molecules of TODGA. The formation of the larger TODGA aggregates takes place over the same range of aqueous acidities where the extraction of trivalent f‐element cations displays a hyperstoichiometric sixth power nitric acid dependence. This suggests that acid‐driven aggregation of TODGA is responsible for the unusual acid and extractant dependencies observed for the extraction of trivalent metal nitrates with this ligand. #The submitted manuscript has been created by the University of Chicago as Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”) under Contract No. W‐31‐109‐ENG‐38 with the US Department of Energy. The US Government retains for itself and others acting on its behalf, a paid‐up, non exclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.

Selective cesium removal from radioactive liquid waste by crown ether immobilized new class conjugate adsorbent.

Conjugate materials can provide chemical functionality, enabling an assembly of the ligand complexation ability to metal ions that are important for applications, such as separation and removal devices. In this study, we developed ligand immobilized conjugate adsorbent for selective cesium (Cs) removal from wastewater. The adsorbent was synthesized by direct immobilization of dibenzo-24-crown-8 ether onto inorganic mesoporous silica. The effective parameters such as solution pH, contact time, initial Cs concentration and ionic strength of Na and K ion concentrations were evaluated and optimized systematically. This adsorbent was exhibited the high surface area-to-volume ratios and uniformly shaped pores in case cavities, and its active sites kept open functionality to taking up Cs. The obtained results revealed that adsorbent had higher selectivity toward Cs even in the presence of a high concentration of Na and K and this is probably due to the Cs-π interaction of the benzene ring. The proposed adsorbent was successfully applied for radioactive Cs removal to be used as the potential candidate in Fukushima nuclear wastewater treatment. The adsorbed Cs was eluted with suitable eluent and simultaneously regenerated into the initial form for the next removal operation after rinsing with water. The adsorbent retained functionality despite several cycles during sorption-elution-regeneration operations.

Selective lanthanide sorption and mechanism using novel hybrid Lewis base (N-methyl-N-phenyl-1,10-phenanthroline-2-carboxamide) ligand modified adsorbent

This study aims to develop a highly selective Lewis base adsorbent to investigate the selective sorption and recovery of Eu(III) and Sm(III) from wastewater. The oxygen and nitrogen donor atoms containing Lewis base N-methyl-N-phenyl-1,10-phenanthroline-2-carboxamide (MePhPTA) ligand was synthesized and subsequently an adsorbent was prepared by direct immobilization onto mesoporous silica. Determined maximum adsorption capacities were 125.63 and 124.38 mg/g for Eu(III) and Sm(III), respectively. Experiments with mixed-cations solutions showed that the sequence of preferential adsorption was Eu(III)>Sm(III). The lanthanide sorption by hybrid Lewis base adsorbent (HyLBA) was not adversely affected by the presence of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate and nitrate ions due to strong affinity between hard Lewis acid lanthanide and hard Lewis base adsorbent. The crystallography for the Sm-MePhPTA complex suggested that MePhPTA was strongly coordinated to Sm(III) with oxygen and nitrogen by forming a stable complex with two 5-membered rings. The data clarified that bond lengths between Sm(III) and amide oxygen (2.475Å) were shorter than SmN (2.662Å) in phenanthroline moiety indicating strong oxygen driven HyLBA. The results suggested that HyLBA has a good prospect of promising applications for separation/sorption of lanthanide ions from effluents.

Structural study of lanthanides(III) in aqueous nitrate and chloride solutions by EXAFS

Structural studies of lanthanide ions (Nd3+≈Lu3+: about 1 mol/l) in the aqueous chloride (HCl: 0≈6 mol/l) and nitrate (HNO3: 0−13 mol/l) solutions were carried out by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). The radial structural functions appeared to be mainly characterized by hydration in both chloride and nitrate systems and coordination of nitrate ion in nitrate systems. These results indicated that nitrate ion forms inner-sphere complex with lanthanide but chloride ion hardly forms one. The quantitative analyses of EXAFS data have revealed that the total coordination numbers of lanthanide ranged from about 9 for light lanthanides to about 8 for heavy lanthanides in all the samples. The bond distances of Ln−O were from about 2.3 to 2.5 Å for Ln−OH2 and from about 2.4 to 2.6 Å for Ln−O2NO. Nitrate ion locates at 0.1 Å longer position than water, it suggested that nitrate ion ligates more weakly than water.

STUDY ON THE EXTRACTION OF TRIVALENT LANTHANIDE IONS WITH N, N'-DIMETHYL-N, N'-DIPHENYL-MALONAMIDE AND -DIGLYCOLAMIDE

The extraction of trivalent lanthanide (Ln(III) ions with two diamides: (1) N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-diphenyl-malonamide (MA) and (2) N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-diphenyl-diglycolamide (DGA) from nitric acid solution was studied. Chemical bond properties of extracted complexes were investigated by UV-VIS and FT-IR spectroscopies. The chemical bond strength between Ln(III) ions and the ligands in extracted complexes was closely related with the magnitude of the distribution ratios of Ln(III) ions: the extracted complex having a stronger bond between Ln(III) ion and the ligand showed a higher magnitude of the distribution ratio of Ln(III) ion.

Speciation of Radioactive Soil Particles in the Fukushima Contaminated Area by IP Autoradiography and Microanalyses

Radioactive soil particles several tens of micrometers in size were collected from litter soil in the radiation contaminated area by the Fukushima nuclear plant accident and characterized using electron and X-ray microanalyses. The radioactive particles were discriminated by autoradiography using imaging plates (IP) on which microgrids were formed by laser ablation in order to find the particles under microscopy. Fifty radioactive particles were identified and classified into three types from their morphology and chemical composition, namely: (1) aggregates of clay minerals, (2) organic matter containing clay mineral particulates, and (3) weathered biotite originating from local granite. With respect to the second type, dissolution of the organic matter did not reduce the radiation, suggesting that the radionuclides were also fixed by the clay minerals. The weathered biotite grains have a plate-like shape with well-developed cleavages inside the grains, and kaolin group minerals and goethite filling the cleavage spaces. The reduction of the radiation intensity was measured before and after the trimming of the plate edges using a focused ion beam (FIB), to examine whether radioactive cesium primarily sorbed at frayed edges. The radiation was attenuated in proportion to the volume decrease by the edge trimming, implying that radioactive cesium was sorbed uniformly in the porous weathered biotite.

Speciation and Structural Study of U(IV) and -(VI) in Perchloric and Nitric Acid Solutions

In order to elucidate the uranium solution chemistry at the high HNO(3) concentrations typically employed for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels, speciation and complex structures of U(IV) and U(VI) are studied in aqueous HNO(3) solutions, as well as in HClO(4) solutions, by means of UV-visible-near-infrared and X-ray absorption spectroscopies and density functional theory calculations. In 1.0 M HClO(4), U(IV) exists as a spherical cation of U(4+), which is surrounded by 9-10 water molecules in the primary coordination sphere, while it forms a colloidal hydrous oxide, U(IV)O(2) x nH(2)O, at a lower acidic concentration of 0.1 M HClO(4). U(VI) exists as a transdioxo uranyl cation, UO(2)(2+), and forms a 5-fold pure hydrate complex of [U(VI)O(2)(H(2)O)(5)](2+) in 1.0 M HClO(4). With increasing HNO(3) concentration, the water molecules of the U(IV) and U(VI) hydrate complexes are successively replaced by planar bidentate coordinating nitrate ions (NO(3)(-)), forming dominant species of [U(IV)(H(2)O)(x)(NO(3))(5)](-) in 9.0 M HNO(3) and [U(VI)O(2)(NO(3))(3)](-) in 14.5 M HNO(3), respectively. The present multitechnique approach also suggests the formation of two intermediate U(VI) species, a 5-fold mononitrato complex ([U(VI)O(2)(H(2)O)(3)(eta(2)-NO(3))](+)) and a 6-fold dinitrato complex ([U(VI)O(2)(H(2)O)(2)(eta(2)-NO(3))(2)](0)), involving an increase in the total coordination number on the uranyl(VI) equatorial plane from 5 to 6 with increasing HNO(3) concentration. The presence of unidentate coordinate nitrato complexes or tetranitrato U(VI) complexes is less probable in the present HNO(3) system.

Cesium adsorption/desorption behavior of clay minerals considering actual contamination conditions in Fukushima.

Cesium adsorption/desorption experiments for various clay minerals, considering actual contamination conditions in Fukushima, were conducted using the 137Cs radioisotope and an autoradiography using imaging plates (IPs). A 50 μl solution containing 0.185 ~ 1.85 Bq of 137Cs (10−11 ~ 10−9 molL−1 of 137Cs) was dropped onto a substrate where various mineral particles were arranged. It was found that partially-vermiculitized biotite, which is termed “weathered biotite” (WB) in this study, from Fukushima sorbed 137Cs far more than the other clay minerals (fresh biotite, illite, smectite, kaolinite, halloysite, allophane, imogolite) on the same substrate. When WB was absent on the substrate, the amount of 137Cs sorbed to the other clay minerals was considerably increased, implying that selective sorption to WB caused depletion of radiocesium in the solution and less sorption to the coexisting minerals. Cs-sorption to WB continued for about one day, whereas that to ferruginous smectite was completed within one hour. The sorbed 137Cs in WB was hardly leached with hydrochloric acid at pH 1, particularly in samples with a longer sorption time. The presence/absence of WB sorbing radiocesium is a key factor affecting the dynamics and fate of radiocesium in Fukushima.

Extraction Studies of Lanthanide(III) Ions with N,N′‐Dimethyl‐N,N′‐diphenylpyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxyamide (DMDPhPDA) from Nitric Acid Solutions

Abstract The new diamide compound, N,N′‐dimethyl‐N,N′‐diphenylpyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxyamide (DMDPhPDA), was synthesized and the distribution ratios of lanthanides from 1 to 5 M nitric acid solutions into DMDPhPDA CHCl3 solution were determined. The extraction mechanism of lanthanide with DMDPhPDA was discussed based on the slope analysis of acid and ligand concentration dependencies and the variation of distribution ratio along the lanthanides series. The number of DMDPhPDA molecules in extracted complexes increase from 3 for lighter lanthanides to 4 for heavier lanthanides. From the previous EXAFS study of a complex similar in structure, Ln(III) would form an inner‐sphere complex with the two DMDPhPDA molecules and an outer‐sphere complex with the third and/or fourth DMDPhPDA molecules in addition to an inner‐sphere complex. Nitric acid concentration has more influence on the distribution ratio and the difference of distribution ratio among lanthanides than the ligand concentration.

Electrochemical and Complexation Behavior of Neptunium in Aqueous Perchlorate and Nitrate Solutions

Electrochemical and complexation properties of neptunium (Np) are investigated in aqueous perchlorate and nitrate solutions by means of cyclic voltammetry, bulk electrolysis, UV-visible absorption, and Np L(III)-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopies. The redox reactions of Np(III)/Np(IV) and Np(V)/Np(VI) couples are reversible or quasi-reversible, while the electrochemical reaction between Np(III/IV) and Np(V/VI) is irreversible because they undergo structural rearrangement from spherical coordinating ions (Np(3+) and Np(4+)) to transdioxoneptunyl ions (NpO2(n+), n = 1 for Np(V) and 2 for Np(VI)). The redox reaction of the Np(V)/Np(VI) couple involves no structural rearrangement on their equatorial planes in acidic perchlorate and nitrate solutions. A detailed analysis on extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra suggests that Np(IV) forms a decaaquo complex of [Np(H2O)10](4+) in 1.0 M HClO4, while Np(V) and Np(VI) exist dominantly as pentaaquoneptunyl complexes, [NpO2(H2O)5](n+) (n = 1 for Np(V) and 2 for Np(VI)). A systematic change is observed on the Fourier transforms of the EXAFS spectra for all of the Np oxidation states as the nitrate concentration is increased in the sample, revealing that the hydrate water molecules are replaced by bidentate-coordinating nitrate ions on the primary coordination sphere of Np.