Facilitated transport of americium(III) from nitric acid media using 3-phenyl-4-benzoyl-5-isoxazolone and tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide in dodecane as the carrier

Carrier mediated transport of Am(III) was investigated employing flat-sheet supported liquid membrane technique using a mixture of tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) and 3-phenyl-4-benzoyl-5-isoxazolone (HPBI) in dodecane as the carrier. At a fixed concentration of TOPO (0.2 M), the permeability coefficient (P) increased linearly (from 7 x 10-4 cm/s to 2.5 x 10-3 cm/s) with HPBI concentration (2.41 x 10-3 M to 2.50 x 10-2 M) and remained constant thereafter. The P values tend to vary with the feed acidity as well as with strip conditions. The solvent extraction experiments revealed more efficient stripping with 6 M HNO3 as compared to 1 M oxalic acid while an opposite trend was observed in the transport studies. It was possible to achieve >90% transport of Am(III) in about 4 hours time when the feed acidity <1 M HNO3 and the carrier concentration was 0.1 M HPBI + 0.2 M TOPO. (orig.)