Influence of Di-n-butyl Phosphoric Acid on Cerium Redox and Speciation in Tri-n-butyl Phosphate

The effects of simulated radiolytic degradation of tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) on the chemical speciation of cerium were studied by spectrophotometry and electrochemistry of TBP solutions containing increasing amounts of di-n-butyl phosphoric acid (HDBP), a common degradation product of TBP. Tetravalent cerium was found to exchange coordinated nitrate for the dibutyl phosphate anion, forming dinuclear complexes of the formula (CeOCe)(NO3)(6-d)(DBP)d·3TBP (d = 0-3). Compared to Ce(IV), Ce(III) was complexed less strongly by HDBP in TBP, but HDBP displaced both nitrate and TBP to form the series of mononuclear complexes Ce(NO3)(3-d)(HDBP·DBP)d·(3-d)TBP (d = 0-3). Dibutyl phosphate coordination caused large negative shifts in the Ce(IV/III) reduction potential in TBP, indicating a strong stabilization of the tetravalent state. Electrochemical investigation of the reduction of Ce(IV) in TBP revealed it to be a two-electron process in accordance with the dinuclear nature of the organic-phase Ce(IV) complexes. The diffusion coefficients of the d = 0 dinuclear Ce(IV)-nitrate-TBP complex and mononuclear Ce(III)-nitrate-TBP complex in TBP equilibrated with 7 M HNO3 were determined to be (1.16 ± 0.06) × 10-7 cm2/s and (1.9 ± 0.4) × 10-7 cm2/s, respectively, which also is consistent with the larger molecular volume of the dinuclear Ce(IV) complexes.