Separation of Sr in combination of ion exchange and Sr resin with alcohol-nitric acid solution and rapid determination of 90Sr in wine and soil samples

This paper describes the procedures of isolating strontium from wine and soil samples which enable creating of procedure for rapid determination of 90Sr. The method of determination of 90Sr includes binding of Sr on the cationic exchanger IR-120 from the sample and simultaneous elution from the cation column and binding on the Sr column, separation of Sr on Sr resin with HNO3 even in presence of alcohols and subsequent Cherenkov counting. Sr can be efficiently bind on Sr resin and separated from the other elements with lower acid concentrations in the presence of a low portion of alcohol, or even from a wine sample without the loss of Sr resin capacity. The binding strength of Sr on Sr resin decreases with the rising of HNO3 concentration (1-5 M) in the presence of 13% of ethanol or methanol, and with the rising of the alcohol portion in constant concentration of HNO3. Application of cation exchanger for Sr binding in phase of sample preparation decreases Sr column loading and improve Sr recovery. The method allows the determination of 90Sr activities in wine and soil sample lower than 10 mBq in reasonable time. (author)