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Arman MÖ, Mullaliu A, Geboes B, Van Hecke K, Das G, Aquilanti G, Binnemans K, Cardinaels T. Separation of terbium as a first step towards high purity terbium-161 for medical applications. RSC Adv 2024; 14:19926-19934. [PMID: 38903678 PMCID: PMC11187813 DOI: 10.1039/d4ra02694b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Terbium-161 is a medical radiolanthanide that has a beta decay energy and half-life similar to that of lutetium-177, which makes it a promising alternative for therapeutic purposes. The production route using an enriched gadolinium-160 target necessitates the purification of terbium-161 from the untransmuted target material as well as from its stable decay product, dysprosium-161. The separation of neighbouring lanthanides is challenging due to their similar chemical properties and prominent trivalent oxidation states. In this work, the aim is to change the oxidation state of terbium, resulting in the altering of chemical properties that ease the intragroup separation. To this end, a novel separation method is investigated, involving the electrochemical oxidation of terbium (3+) to terbium (4+) followed by anion exchange chromatography. The electrolysis conditions are set to the highest achievable conversion rate, followed by a dilution step during which the pH and electrolyte concentration are slightly lowered to obtain conditions that are compatible with the separation method. XAS analysis is done to characterize the carbonato complex of both oxidation states and to further elucidate the separation mechanism. The results show that the separation approach of combining electrochemical oxidation with anion exchange chromatography is promising for the purification of 161Tb for medical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meryem Özge Arman
- KU Leuven, Department of Chemistry Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. 2404 B-3001 Leuven Belgium
- Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN, Institute for Nuclear Energy Technology Boeretang 200, Mol B-2400 Belgium
| | - Angelo Mullaliu
- KU Leuven, Department of Chemistry Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. 2404 B-3001 Leuven Belgium
| | - Bart Geboes
- Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN, Institute for Nuclear Energy Technology Boeretang 200, Mol B-2400 Belgium
| | - Karen Van Hecke
- Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN, Institute for Nuclear Energy Technology Boeretang 200, Mol B-2400 Belgium
| | - Ganghadar Das
- Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste 34149 Basovizza Trieste Italy
| | | | - Koen Binnemans
- KU Leuven, Department of Chemistry Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. 2404 B-3001 Leuven Belgium
| | - Thomas Cardinaels
- KU Leuven, Department of Chemistry Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. 2404 B-3001 Leuven Belgium
- Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN, Institute for Nuclear Energy Technology Boeretang 200, Mol B-2400 Belgium
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Jiang H, Liu Z, He L, Chai Z, Wang D. The Speciation of Americium Cations in Neat Water Implicated from DFT Studies. Inorg Chem 2022; 61:13858-13867. [PMID: 35984920 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c01805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The recent observed manipulatable redox potential of trivalent americium ion in the aqueous phase by modifying an electrode offers an alternative to accomplish the separation. In order to understand extensively the speciation of Am, which is the prerequisite to understanding the mechanism of the oxidation of Am, we conducted a density functional study to identify the potential species of Am in its tri-, tetra-, and pentavalent states in aqueous phase. Based on the speciation analysis, the calculations implicate a stepwise mechanism for the oxidation of hydrated Am(III), which predominantly exists in its hydrated monatomic cationic form (Am3+(aq)). The two sequential one-electron oxidation processes first produce AmO2+(aq), which may establish an equilibrium with Am4+(aq), and the AmO2+(aq) may then evolve to the dioxo americyl(V) ion. These results suggest the copresence of Am4+(aq) and AmO2+(aq), which builds a bridge for the conversion of americium ion from a monatomic ion to dioxo americyl(V).
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Jiang
- School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Ziyi Liu
- School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Lei He
- School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Zhifang Chai
- State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, and School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.,Multidisciplinary Initiative Center, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dongqi Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
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Wang Z, Lu JB, Dong X, Yan Q, Feng X, Hu HS, Wang S, Chen J, Li J, Xu C. Ultra-Efficient Americium/Lanthanide Separation through Oxidation State Control. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:6383-6389. [PMID: 35353513 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c00594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Lanthanide/actinide separation is a worldwide challenge for atomic energy and nuclear waste treatment. Separation of americium (Am), a critical actinide element in the nuclear fuel cycle, from lanthanides (Ln) is highly desirable for minimizing the long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear waste, yet it is extremely challenging given the chemical similarity between trivalent Am(III) and Ln(III). Selective oxidation of Am(III) to a higher oxidation state (OS) could facilitate this separation, but so far, it is far from satisfactory for practical application as a result of the unstable nature of Am in a high OS. Herein, we find a novel strategy to generate stable pentavalent Am (Am(V)) through coordination of Am(III) with a diglycolamide ligand and oxidation with Bi(V) species in the presence of an organic solvent. This strategy leads to efficient stabilization of Am(V) and an extraordinarily high separation factor (>104) of Am from Ln through one single contact in solvent extraction, thereby opening a new avenue to study the high-OS chemistry of Am and fulfill the crucial task of Ln/Am separation in the nuclear fuel cycle. The synergistic coordination and oxidation process is found to occur in the organic solvent, and the mechanism has been well elucidated by quantum-theoretical modeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhipeng Wang
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jun-Bo Lu
- Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Xue Dong
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Qiang Yan
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xiaogui Feng
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Han-Shi Hu
- Department of Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Shuao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Jing Chen
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.,Department of Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Chao Xu
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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