Selective cloud point extraction of uranium from thorium and lanthanides using Cyanex 301 as extractant

Investigation of europium(III) uptake from highly sulphate solution via cloud point extraction by mono-Schiff base combined with Triton X-100

Owing to its unique physico-chemical properties, europium is one of the most precious and sought-after rare earth elements in the field of high technology. The major economic and commercial importance of such an element, combined with the pollution risks associated with its intensive use, require the development of efficient and eco-compatible recovery and recycling processes. This study focuses on the recovery of europium from highly saline sulphate media (0.5 mol/L) using an environmentally friendly two-phase aqueous extraction technique (known as cloud point extraction (CPE)), using 2((phenylimino)methyl)phenol mono-Schiff base (HPIMP) as the extractant and Triton X-100 as the non-ionic surfactant. The influence of key experimental parameters such as pH, extractant concentration, surfactant concentration and separation temperature on the europium extraction process was systematically studied and optimized. Under optimum experimental conditions, a quasi-quantitative extraction with a minimal volume fraction of surfactant-rich phase (φs = 0.025), and concentration factor of (CF = 38) was achieved at pH 9.8, in one stage. The analysis of the extraction data revealed that the CPE of europium(III) takes place by a cation exchange-solvation mechanism. The stoichiometry of the complex extracted into the surfactant-rich phase was ascertained to have a composition of 1:2 [Eu:HPIMP] with the slope analysis method. A higher extraction constant was obtained for CPE compared with conventional solvent extraction, confirming the feasibility and usefulness of CPE for Eu(III) recovery. On the other hand, this new HPIMP/Triton X-100 chelating system showed superior extractability for Eu(III) in the CPE process relative to other systems reported previously.

A novel CPE procedure by oil-in-water microemulsion for preconcentrating and analyzing thorium and uranium

A novel cloud point extraction (CPE) procedure was developed to preenrich Th4+ and UO2 2+ by oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsion. Coupling CPE to ICP-MS, the separation and analysis were achieved at a trace level, in which the low detection limits were 0.019 and 0.042 ng mL−1 for Th(IV) and U(VI), respectively. N,N′-diethyl-N,N′-ditolyl-2,9-diamide-1,10-phenanthroline (Et-Tol-DAPhen), as an extremely hydrophobic extractant, was failed to dissolve in single or mixed micelles, but was successfully solubilized to CPE system owing to O/W microemulsion. The extraction efficiency and selectivity for Th4+ and UO2 2+ were excellent under acidic condition of 1.0 mol L−1 HNO3, and the recovery of ultra-trace Th4+ and UO2 2+ was almost 100% even at the presence of large amounts of lanthanides, exhibiting high tolerance limits for lanthanides. The solubilization, extraction and coordination behaviours were studied systematically via DLS, UV–vis, 1H NMR and FT-IR. Moreover, the solubilization of N,N′-dioctyl-N,N′-dioctyl-2,9-diamide-1,10-phenanthroline (Oct-Oct-DAPhen) and efficient extraction for UO2 2+ were also realized by O/W microemulsion, which further proved the feasibility of the method.

Selective separation of uranyl ions from some lanthanide elements using a promising β-enaminoester ligand by cloud point extraction

For uranyl extraction, a distinctive chelating ligand, namely ethyl 2-amino-6-hydroxy-5-(4-methoxyphenyldiazenyl)-4-phenyl-4H-benzo[f]chromene-3-carboxylate, has been synthesized and characterized using FT-IR, NMR, and ESI-MS. Subsequently, a cloud point extraction (CPE) protocol has been developed for the selective separation of the trace amounts of uranyl ions from some lanthanide ions after being captured by the ligand in the presence of non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-114). The extraction procedure has been optimized based on the concentration of the complexing agent and the non-ionic surfactant, phase separation temperatures, pH, and ionic strength. The developed CPE procedure exhibited a relatively low detection limit of 0.5 ng mL-1 in the linear range from 3 ng mL-1 to 250 ng mL-1. Furthermore, interference studies have been carried out to study the selectivity of our protocol. These studies revealed that the recoveries of uranyl ions were in the range from 96.1% to 99.9% in the presence of some lanthanide ions such as Th4+, Gd3+, and Sm3+. It is worth mentioning that the geometry optimization, reactivity, and molecular electrostatic potential maps of the ligand and the proposed UO2 2+ complex were acquired via DFT calculations to study their stabilities based on the geometry and binding affinity. The theoretical data confirmed the octahedral geometry of the UO2 2+ complex with the lowest energy and excellent stability. The robustness of the proposed methodology was evaluated by the detection of uranyl ions in different environmental samples and synthetic mixtures.

Cloud point extraction associated with differential pulse voltammetry: preconcentration and determination of trace uranyl in natural water

A procedure for the electroanalytical determination of uranyl ions pre-concentrated from natural water by cloud point extraction (CPE) is developed in this study.

Supramolecular assembly of ionic liquid induced by UO2 2+: a strategy for selective extraction-precipitation

In this work, a novel task specific ionic liquid (TSIL) [tributyl(hexyl)phosphonium]2[diglycolic acetate] ([P6,4,4,4]2[DGA]) was prepared and used to construct a vesicle system. The addition of UO2 2+, La3+ or Th4+ exhibited different effects on the system. It was found that small amount of UO2 2+ could induce large-sized aggregation of vesicles and make the precipitation happen, while La3+ and Th4+ did not have such capacity. The whole process was characterized by dynamic light scattering and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy. An extraction-precipitation strategy was then developed for the selective recovery of UO2 2+. Different factors were further studied to optimize the separation efficiency of the extraction-precipitation process.