Separation of Sm-Eu-Gd mixed solutions using bifunctional ionic liquid [A336][P204]

• Main Authors: Anwaruddin, Hisyam, N. A., Ismail, S., Shariff
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) 2018
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24125/1/8.%20Separation%20of%20sm-eu-gd%20mixed%20solutions.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24125/2/8.1%20Separation%20of%20sm-eu-gd%20mixed%20solutions.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24125/

This paper studied the use of bifunctional ionic liquid as an extractant to extract and separate Sm-Eu-Gd mixed solutions. The extractant combined the conventional extractant di-(2-ethyl hexyl) phosphate (P204) with ionic liquid Aliquat 336 (A336) through acid/base neutralization method. This work explored the effect of extraction medium (chloride, sulphate and nitrate), acid concentration (1.5-5.0M) and organic to aqueous phase ratio (1:1, 3:2, 7:3, 4:1, 9:1) to determine the separation factor of each metals. Based on the results, Sm (III) showed the highest separation factor of total solute (β Sm/total=2.81) in the nitrate medium with the acid concentration of 3.0M and organic to aqueous phase ratio of 4:1. Sm (III) was chosen to be separated in the first stage of extraction from the Sm-Eu-Gd mixed solution. In the second stage, the optimized condition to separate the remaining Eu-Gd mixed solution into individual metal was also in the nitrate medium with organic to aqueous phase ratio of 3:2, except with lower acid concentration, 2.0M. This work shows that [A336][P204] is an impeccable extractant candidate for an improved and environmental friendly to separate Sm-Eu-Gd in both laboratory and industrial application.