A scheme for sequential separation of thorium, lanthanides, uranium in geo-materials and their ICP-OES determination

Neutral complexes of thorium and lanthanides with 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene and anionic complexes of uranium with the same chelating agent in presence of cetyltri-methylammonium ion are extracted into ethylacetate at the pH 5-6, 9-10 and 10-12 respectively. All these elements are then quantitatively stripped off into dilute acid solutions and then determined by ICP-OES. Certified Reference Materials like SY-2, SY-3, GSP-2 and a statistical paired 't' test are conducted for validation of the method. The results obtained for a set of rock and grab samples are compared with other standard techniques yielding high degree of accuracy and precision.

Automated summary

The study successfully utilized a specific extraction method to determine thorium, lanthanides, and uranium under different pH conditions, validating the effectiveness of the approach. Experimental results indicate that the method demonstrates a high degree of accuracy and precision when compared with other standard techniques.