Contribution to the study of uranyl salts in butyl phosphate solutions

A spectroscopic study in the normal infrared region and involving the following associations: tri-alkyl phosphates (tri-butyl, tri-ethyl, tri-methyl), uranyl salts (nitrate, chloride, acetate) has confirmed the existence of an interaction between the phosphoryl group and the uranium atom, as shown by a movement of absorption band for the valency P = 0 from ∼ 1270 cm-1 to ∼ 1180 cm-1. A study of the preparation, analysis and spectroscopy of the solids obtained by the precipitation of uranyl salts by acid butyl phosphates has been carried out. By infrared spectrophotometry it has been shown that the tri-butyl and di-butyl phosphates are associated in non-polar diluents even before the uranium is introduced. The extraction of uranyl salts from acid aqueous solutions by a diluted mixture of tri-butyl and di-butyl phosphates proceeds by different mechanisms according to the nature of the ion (nitrate or chloride). (author)