Abstract

The TALSPEAK process is an established option for lanthanide/minor actinide separations using solvent extraction. In this process, selective extraction of lanthanides is achieved by contacting a water-soluble aminopolycarboxylate complexant in a concentrated carboxylic acid buffer with a liquid cation exchanging extractant in an immiscible organic diluent. Although TALSPEAK process development has been successful on several levels, studies of the detailed fundamental chemistry have revealed undesirable complex interactions between aqueous and organic solute species. These complications threaten to impair process modeling and could impact engineered operations. In the present work, results are reported describing equilibrium partitioning and phase transfer kinetics trends for trivalent lanthanide ions and americium into bis-2-ethyl(hexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) or structural analog 2-ethyl(hexyl) phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (HEH[EHP]) organic phases from aqueous lactate solutions containing di...

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