Determination of lanthanides by ion chromatography. Separation and retention mechanism

Comparison of Usefulness of Four Chelating Agents (EDTA, NTA, ODA and IDA) for the Chromatographic Separation of Micro and Macro Amounts of Rare Earth Elements

Literature on the use of four chelating agents namely: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, diglycolic acid and iminodiacetic acid for the chromatographic separation of micro and macro amounts of rare earth elements was critically reviewed and supplemented with some new unpublished data from our Laboratory. Advantages and disadvantages of ion exchange chromatography both in cation and anion mode as well as ion interaction chromatography techniques, which were used for rare earth elements separation, are discussed. The usefulness of some of the chromatographic systems for micro-macro separations was discussed and demonstrated. The importance of resilience of the separation method to column overloading in some analytical and larger scale separations was emphasized. The methods described in this article might suit well for recovering of individual lanthanides and yttrium from e-waste and other industrial wastes which were fast accumulating in recent years.

Separation of Rare Earth Elements (REE) by Ion Interaction Chromatography (IIC) Using Diglycolic Acid (ODA) as a Complexing Agent

The possibility of rare earth elements (REE) separation by ion interaction chromatography (IIC) employing their complexes with diglycolic acid (ODA) in anion exchange mode has been studied theoretically and experimentally. Calculations, assuming that only trivalent complex is significantly uptaken by the stationary phase, indicated that at at pH 4–6, the retention in the lanthanide series should increase from La to the Tb–Dy–Ho region with yttrium showing apparent atomic number (App.At.No.) of 67½ and then decrease with further increase of atomic number. Chromatographic experiments in the system: Column: Eternity C18—mobile phase 5 mM ODA/8.6 mM TBAOH/0.6 mM HNO3; pH 4.60 confirmed theoretically predictions. It was found that scandium at pH ≥ 4.0 elutes in front of the whole REE group but at low pH enters the region of light lanthanides. The non-monotonical change of affinity of the REE with the increase of atomic number results in quite unusual order of elution of REE namely: Sc < La < Ce < Lu < Pr < Yb < Nd < Tm < Sm < Eu < Er≈Y < Gd < Ho < Tb≈Dy.

Elution profiles of lanthanides with α-hydroxyisobutyric acid by ion exchange chromatography using fine resin

Experiments were carried out using a strong acid cation exchange resin with a particle size of 75-150 μm, termed as "fine resin" in hydrogen ion form for the elution of individual lanthanides Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy that are produced as fission products in the spent nuclear fuel and generated in the effluent during reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Batch experiments were carried out to study the effect of concentration of nitric acid on distribution coefficient. The distribution coefficient values for these individual lanthanides were determined in nitric acid medium in the concentration range of 0.01-4.0 N. Uptake of each individual lanthanide by resin was increased with increased nitric acid concentration from 0.01 to 0.5 N and remained similar from 0.5 to 1.0 N and decreased thereafter up to 4.0 N. Column experiments were also carried out using the same resin to study the parameters like pH of the eluent, flow rate, and resin bed height under isocratic elution conditions for eluting lanthanide elements using α-hydroxyisobutyric acid as eluent. The results of this study have indicated the possibility for the elution of individual lanthanides.

Comprehensive multi-dimensional liquid chromatographic separation in biomedical and pharmaceutical analysis: a review

'Multi-dimensional' liquid separations have a history almost as long as chromatography. In multi-dimensional chromatography the sample is subjected to more than one separation mechanism; each mechanism is considered an independent separation dimension. The separations can be carried out either offline via fraction collection, or directly coupled online. Early multi-dimensional separations using combinations of paper chromatography, electrophoresis and gels, in both planar and columnar modes are reviewed. Developments in HPLC have increased the number of measurable analytes in ever more complex matrices, and this has led to the concept of 'global metabolite profiling'. This review focuses on the theory and practice of modern 'comprehensive' multi-dimensional liquid chromatography when applied to biomedical and pharmaceutical analysis.

Quantification of lanthanides in rocks using succinic acid-derivatized sorbents for on-line SPE-RP-ion-pair HPLC

The use of new poly(norbornene-block-7-oxanorborn-2ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid)-coated silica-based sorbents as well as of beaded polymers based on poly(norborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid-co-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo-endo-dimethanonaphthalene) for the on-line preconcentration of lanthanides from rock digests and their subsequent RP-ion-pair HPLC separation is described. Block co-polymers of norborn-2-ene and 7-oxanorborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylate used for coating were prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and poly(norborn-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid-co-1,4,4a,5,8,-8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo-endo-dimethanonaphthalene)-based polymer beads were prepared by ring-opening metathesis precipitation polymerization. Both types of sorbents exhibit an extraordinarily good pH stability, are hydrophilic and therefore easily wetable by water alone, and show high extraction efficiencies for lanthanides within a pH of 3.5-5.5. The rare earth element (REE) content in the investigated rocks varied over 3 orders of magnitude (0.19-108 microg/g). REE concentrations prior to enrichment were typically in the range of 1-25 ng/mL; the total amount of each REE sorbed onto the precolumn was in the range of 8-270 ng. Extraction selectivities of the sorbent may be enhanced by adding 5-sulfosalicylic acid as a masking agent for iron and aluminum as well as methanol as an inhibitor for the precipitation of o-silicic acid. Gradient elution of the lanthanides from the precolumn and their subsequent separation on a RP-C18 column was achieved using hydroxyisobutyric acid (HIBA) and sodium octanesulfonate. Depending on the actual concentration of the lanthanides in the digests and in order to suppress interfering cations, UV detection was carried out with two different postderivatization reagents, 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) and arsenazo III. The high selectivity in enrichment as well as the complementary use of post-derivatization reagents allows the fast, quantitative, and highly reproducible quantification of REEs present in rocks by complete removal or suppression of all other interfering components. Thus, recoveries were found to be within a range of 97-103% for most REEs with relative standard deviations of 2-5%.

Liquid chromatography: a tool for the analysis of metal species

An overview is presented of classic and more recent applications of liquid chromatography for the analysis of metal species. The different approaches involving ion-exchange, ion-pair, and chelation separation mechanisms are discussed as well as the new philosophy of simply removing interferents before specific detections of metal ions (alkali and alakaline earths, rare earths, heavy and transition metals). New more selective materials enabling difficult separations and studies on multimodal or hyphenated techniques for metal speciation (e.g. arsenic and chromium) are considered.