Isolation of lanthanides from spent nuclear fuel by means of high performance ion chromatography (HPIC) prior to mass spectrometric analysis

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2017-12, Vol.314 (3), p.1727-1739
• Main Authors: Van Hoecke, Karen, Bussé, Jakob, Gysemans, Mireille, Adriaensen, Lesley, Dobney, Andrew, Cardinaels, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acid digestion; Actinides; Cation exchanging; Cesium; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Diagnostic Radiology; Dysprosium; Elution; Europium; Gadolinium; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Hydroxyisobutyric acid; Inorganic Chemistry; Ions; Lanthanides; Lasers; Magnetic alloys; Mass spectrometry; Neodymium; Nuclear Chemistry; Nuclear energy; Nuclear environmental management; Nuclear industry; Nuclear Physics; Oxidation; Physical Chemistry; Rare earth metal compounds; Samarium; Spectrometry; Spent nuclear fuels; Spent reactor fuels
• ISSN: 0236-5731; 1588-2780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-017-5538-x

Pure and complete fractions of neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium and dysprosium were isolated by means of high performance ion chromatography, using a cation exchange column and gradient elution with alpha-hydroxyisobutyric acid solutions (α-HIBA). Intermediate precision and robustness of the isolation method was investigated, identifying eluent pH as the most important parameter. Investigation of the elution behaviour of the most important fission and activation products and actinides indicated that preventing the accumulation of cesium on the cation exchange column required further isocratic elution with a higher concentrated α-HIBA solution after elution of the lanthanides. A sample matrix free of carbon was achieved by means of acid digestion, followed by UV photo-oxidation, resulting in samples suitable for mass spectrometric analysis.