Coprecipitation of Ti, Zr, and Hf as Rf homologs with La fluoride from solutions of hydrofluoric acid

Abstract

The discovery of relatively longer halflives of transactinides ( T1/2 ~ 1.3 h) and (T 1/2 ~ 29 h) offers new approaches for the study of chemical properties of Rf and Db in solutions. This work examines the effects that the pH of a solution, HF concentration, the concentration of proper ions in the solution, the presence of foreign multivalent ions in the solution, and the contact time of liquid and solid phases have on the coprecipitation of radioisotopes of group�4 elements Ti, Zr, and Hf with fluoride La. The morphology of the solid phase was studied using electron microscopy methods (SEM and TEM); an Xray phase analysis of the obtained solid phases was performed. It was inferred that the fluoride forms of Zr and Hf cocrystallize with LaF3. The possibilities of using coprecipitation for examining the influence that the rela� tivistic effects have on the chemical properties of Rf and Db were discussed.