Highly Efficient Extraction Chromatography Resin Containing Hexa-n-Octyl Nitrilotriacetamide (HONTA) for Selective Recovery of Plutonium from Acidic Feeds

An extraction chromatography resin was prepared by impregnating hexa-n-octyl nitrilotriacetamide (HONTA) on chromosorb-W. This resin shows very efficient performance for selective separation of Pu4+ over other actinides like uranium and americium. The distribution coefficient for Pu4+ (at 3 M HNO3) was on the order of 10(4) mL/g, with separation factors of >10(3) for other actinides. The extraction kinetics for Pu4+ was slow and took 20 min of shaking for reaching the equilibrium conditions and followed both the film diffusion and the intraparticle diffusion kinetic models. The Pu4+ sorption on the resin followed the Langmuir monolayer model with a sorption energy of 11.2 kJ/mol. The maximum Pu4+ loading capacity on the resin was 58.2 mg/g resin, which corresponds to 1:1 Pu/ligand complex formation. Excellent column performance was observed for selective separation of Pu4+ from a mixture of Pu, Am, and U in a 3 M HNO3 solution.

Automated summary

A chromatography resin was prepared by impregnating HONTA on chromosorb-W, which exhibited excellent performance in selectively separating Pu4+ from uranium and americium. The distribution coefficient for Pu4+ (at 3 M HNO3) was around 10(4) mL/g, with separation factors of >10(3) for other actinides. The extraction kinetics of Pu4+ followed both film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion models, taking 20 minutes to reach equilibrium. The Pu4+ sorption on the resin followed the Langmuir monolayer model with a sorption energy of 11.2 kJ/mol. The resin had a maximum Pu4+ loading capacity of 58.2 mg/g, corresponding to 1:1 Pu/ligand complex formation. Excellent column performance was observed for selectively separating Pu4+ from a mixture of Pu, Am, and U in a 3 M HNO3 solution.