Carrier Facilitated Transport of Europium(III) Across Supported Liquid Membranes Containing N,N,N′,N′-tetra-2-ethylhexyl-3-oxapentane-diamide (T2EHDGA) as the Extractant

Abstract

Studies on the solvent extraction and pertraction behavior of europium(III) was carried out from acidic feed solutions using N,N,N′,N′-tetra-2-ethylhexyl-3-oxapentane-diamide (T2EHDGA) in n-dodecane as the solvent. The nature of the extracted species from the solvent extraction studies conformed to Eu(NO₃)₃ · 3T2EHDGA which is in variance with the analogous Eu(III) – TODGA (linear homolog of T2EHDGA) extraction system. The transport behavior of Eu(III) was investigated from a feed containing 3.0 M HNO₃ into a receiver phase containing 0.01 M HNO₃ across a PTFE flat sheet supported liquid membrane (SLM) containing 0.2 M T2EHDGA in n-dodecane as the carrier solvent and 30% iso-decanol as the phase modifier. Effects of feed acidity, carrier extractant concentration, membrane pore size, and Eu concentration in the feed on the transport rates of Eu(III) were also investigated. Membrane diffusion coefficient (D _o) for the pertracted species was calculated using the Wilke-Chang equation as 4.25 × 10⁻⁶ cm² · s⁻¹. The influence of Eu concentration on the flux was also investigated. The role of temperature on the transport rates was investigated and the thermodynamic parameters were calculated.

Keywords:

• actinide partitioning
• europium(III)
• liquid membrane
• solvent extraction
• T2EHDGA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

S.P. and S.C.T. wish to thank Mr. P.K. Dey, Head, Fuel Reprocessing Division, for his keen interest and constant encouragement.

Notes

^a Note. Though third phase was seen in the absence of modifier, the SLM studies were carried out without any phase modifier.