A fast strategy to sequentially separate and determine 90Sr, 210Pb and 210Po in water samples using Sr resin

Abstract

This study presents a rapid and novel sequential separation strategy based on extraction chromatography for determining 90Sr, 210Pb and 210Po in drinking water samples. It involves the use of Sr resin for the separation and then liquid scintillation counting and alpha spectrometry for the determination. The experimental results obtained showed that the proper acidic solution to quantitatively retain the aforementioned radionuclides is 3 M HNO3. The optimum eluents were determined for obtaining quantitative recoveries (70–80%) of 90Sr, 210Pb and 210Po. The method was validated with intercomparison water samples and is satisfactory in terms of minimum detectable activities, which are 50% lower than that established in RD 314/2016.

Hydrogen bonding with polonium

“…29,30 There are numerous interests and progresses to quantify the 210 Po content in soils and gas lines. [31][32][33][34] It is surprising not to find a single report on the fundamental chemistry aspects such as noncovalent interactions with Po, more precisely H-bonding with Po. The reason could be that Po is radioactive and less electronegative.…”