An Improved Hydrolytically-Stable Bis-Triazinyl-Pyridine (BTP) for Selective Actinide Extraction

Abstract

Bis-2,6-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,9,9-trimethyl-5,8-methano-1,2,4-benzotriazin-3-yl)pyridine (CA-BTP) is presented as a novel optimized extracting agent for the separation of americium(III) and curium(III) from lanthanides(III). CA-BTP is synthesized and studied concerning its extraction properties under conditions relevant to the SANEX process. It is demonstrated that CA-BTP is the first relevant molecule to show both high stability towards highly-acidic process solutions and satisfactory extraction kinetics. Its high solubility in 1-octanol adds to CA-BTP's favorable properties. Furthermore, CA-BTP is synthesized from a commercially available and moderately priced precursor molecule, reducing extracting-agent production costs.

Keywords:

• Liquid-liquid extraction
• americium(III)
• curium(III)
• lanthanides(III)
• separation
• nitric acid
• CA-BTP
• kinetics
• SANEX process

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors of this work acknowledge the financial support of the European Commission (project ACSEPT – Contract № FP7-CP-2007-211 267) and of EnBW.