Mass-dependent and -independent fractionation of isotopes in Ni and Pb chelate complex formation reactions

Mass independent fractionation (MIF) has been a very interesting topic in the field of inorganic isotope chemistry, in particular, geo- and cosmo- chemistry. In the present work, we studied the isotope fractionation of Ni(II) and Pb(II) ions in complex formation with chelating reagent EDTA. To obtain clear results on the mass dependence of the isotope fractionation, we have conducted long-distance ion exchange chromatography of Ni(II) and Pb(II), using chelate complex reagent EDTA. The results apparently show that the isotope fractionation in Ni complex formation system is governed by the mass dependent rule. On the other hand the isotope fractionation in the Pb complex system is governed by the mass independent rule or the nuclear volume effect