SEPARATION AND DETERMINATION OF THORIUM IN URANIUM MINERALIZATIONS USING A MIXED ION EXCHANGE COLUMN BY ION CHROMATOGRAPHY

SHERIEN AHMED
2018 Nuclear Sciences Scientific Journal  
An ion chromatographic method for the separation and determination of thorium in uranium mineralizations has been developed using a mixed ion-exchange column; IonPac CS5A containing both cation and anion exchange sites. Selective separation of U(VI) and Th(IV) was performed by online gradient elution using two mobile phases of composition 0.1 M (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 / 0.1M HCl and 0.2 M (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 / 0.1 M HCl, respectively. Post-column spectrophotometric detection with 3 mM arsenazo III was then
more » ... upled at 655 nm. The separation factors between U and Th ions were found to be dependent on (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and HCl concentrations of the eluent constituents and to a much more extent on its flow rate. The optimized developed method has been validated by its application for the analysis of both uranium and thorium in a sample from Abu Rusheid mineralization that is considered as a reference material and has then been used for the analysis of a mineralized sample from Abu Zeneima area.
doi:10.21608/nssj.2018.30737 fatcat:p36kb3tspjanjn5wzabvhx2poq