Boroaluminosilicate glasses: Novel sorbents for separation of Th and U

Boroaluminosilicate glass having a specific composition could be successfully used for the selective uptake of thorium from a mixture containing uranium by controlling the solution pH only. Single ion uptake studies showed that the uptake of uranium and thorium was maximum at pH of 4.5 and 7.5, respectively. But uptake studies using mixtures with uranium and thorium showed that irrespective of the pH, the uptake of thorium was higher than that of uranium. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.