Solvent extraction and spectrophotometric determination of uranium(VI) with pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde 2-hydroxybenzoylhydrazone

Abstract

Pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde 2-hydroxybenzoylhydrazone (PAHB) is proposed as an extractant for the separation and spectrophotometric determination of uranium(VI). The optimum extraction conditions have been evaluated by studying various parameters such as pH, diluents, equilibration time and reagent concentration. PAHB forms yellow colored complex with uranium(VI) in the pH range of 3.5-4.6 which can be extracted by isobutyl methyl ketone. The extracted complex exhibits an absorption maximum at 375 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 1.0-5.6 ppm of uranium(VI). The nature of the extracted species (1:2) was determined by log D-log c plot. The proposed method permits selective separation of uranium(VI) from its binary mixtures. The method is also applied for the estimation of uranium in multicomponent mixtures and monazite sand.