Effective isolation of europium impurities from 153Sm using electro amalgamation approach based on response surface methodology

Abstract

The present study is aimed to produce the europium-free 153Sm by electro amalgamation process. For this purpose, the production of radioactive isotope 153Sm and its impurities were theoretically investigated by MATLAB software. The produced impurities were also measured for 1 mg of 152Sm. Then isolation of europium impurities from samarium was performed by electro amalgamation method. The effects of various operating parameters such as initial pH, electrolyte concentration, applied voltage, and temperature were scrutinized on multiple responses including Eu removal (Y1) and Sm recovery (Y2). The central composite design (CCD) in response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to optimize the responses. The results showed that the maximum efficiency of Y1 (96.72%) and Y2 (96.95%) can be achieved at initial pH of 6, applied voltage of 6 V, lithium citrate concentration of 0.2 mol/l, and the temperature of 25 °C for 30 min. The prediction values well matched with the experimental data with a correlation coefficient of 0.988. In the last step, experiments were carried out at optimal conditions which resulted in complete separation of 155Eu, 156Eu, and 89.74% of 154Eu. Also, the recovery percentage of 153Sm under optimal conditions was 88.25%.