Designing and selecting extractants with high selectivity between uranium and thorium, and developing the relevant separation process is one of the key points to realize efficient utilization of nuclear resources in the thorium-uranium nuclear fuel cycle. In this work, we used four phenanthroline-derived phosphine-oxide extractants with different substituents and studied their extraction ability and separation effect on U(VI)/Th(IV) under different conditions. The Et2-BPPhen and Ph2-BPPhen extractants show weak and strong extraction abilities for U(VI) and Th(IV), respectively. The Et-Ph-BPPhen(R,R) and Et-Ph-BPPhen(R,S) extractants could co-extract U(VI) and Th(IV) under high acidity (DU(VI) > 300, DTh(IV) > 40, SFU(VI)/ Th(IV) < 7, 4 M HNO3), and show high selectivity towards U(VI) over Th(IV) at low acidity (SFU(VI)/ Th(IV) > 200, 0.1 M HNO3). Most Th(IV) can be stripped by adjusting the acidity of the aqueous phase, while U(VI) still remains in the organic phase (STh(IV) > 95 %, SU(VI) < 5 %), so as to achieve the step-by-step process for co-extraction and selective separation. Then, the slope analysis and NMR titration (1H and 31P) determined BPPhen ligands could form ML-type complex with U(VI), and can simultaneously form M/L = 1:1 and 1:2 complexes with Th(IV). The stability constants of the metal–ligand complexes were fitted by UV–Vis spectroscopic titration to estimate coordination abilities of four ligands. Finally, the single-crystals of complexes with the structures of [UO2(L)(NO3)2], [Th(L)(NO3)4] and [Th(L)(H2O)2]·4(ClO4), (L = Et2-BPPhen/Et-Ph-BPPhen(R,R)/Et-Ph-BPPhen(R,S)/Ph2-BPPhen) were produced, and their coordination and packing mode were analyzed. This work contributes to revealing the structure–activity relationship of phenanthroline phosphine-oxide extractants and providing a reference for designing new extractants with high U(VI)/Th(IV) separation efficiency.
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