Separation of Carrier Free 90Y from 90Sr by Hollow Fiber Supported Liquid Membrane Containing Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phosphonic Acid

Abstract

The present article gives a comparative account of the efficiency of carrier-free 90Y separation from 90Sr by solvent extraction, flat sheet-supported liquid membrane (FSSLM) and hollow fiber-supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) methods using bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphonic acid (PC88A) as the carrier extractant. The major focus of this work has been to develop the HFSLM method for the separation of Y(III) on a relatively large scale. The feed and receiver phase conditions were optimized by carrying out batch solvent-extraction studies. The extraction of Sr(II) by PC88A was negligible in the acidity range of 0.01–3 M HNO3, whereas the extraction of Y(III) was significantly large at lower acidity (≤0.1 M HNO3) with a separation factor (SF = DY/DSr) of 8.5 × 104. HFSLM studies suggested selective and efficient transport of Y(III) into 3 M HNO3 from a feed solution containing a mixture of Y(III) and Sr(II) at 0.1 M HNO3. On the other hand, transport of Sr(II) was negligible in the receiver phase. The purity of the separated 90Y was ascertained by paper chromatography and by half-life measurement. The radiation stability of the carrier was excellent as studied up to 1000 KGy dose.