Selective removal of Zr(IV) from simulated High-Level liquid waste of metallic fuel reprocessing using hydroxyacetamide Extractant: Insights from solvent extraction and density functional theory computations

A Polymer‐Functionalized GO Composite Prepared through Pickering Emulsion Polymerization for Selective Removal of Zr from Acidic Solutions

“…The amide group in PGOA is the one responsible for Zr adsorption. Several amide‐based extractants including solid phase extraction systems have been reported previously for the separation of different metal ions including Zr and Pu [9,46–49] . The amides are expected to form a neutral solvating type complex with the metal ions in acidic conditions.…”

“…Figure 7 displays the stripping profile of Zr from the PGOA phase, which shows the effectiveness of removing Zr from the loaded adsorbent phase. As can be seen from the Figure 7 that the removal of Zr from the GO phase using dilute nitric acid (0.1 M nitric acid) is difficult, as Zr is known to form a very strong complex [9,10] . Other complexing agents such as oxalic acid, acetohydroxamic acid or CyDTA also turned to be less effective in removing Zr from GO phase.…”

“…Nevertheless, the feed recommended for Zr removal in the present study is PUREX raffinate, which has a negligibly lower Pu content. According to authors, [6,9] while small amount of Zr could also be separated by the PUREX solvent (TBP), given the high concentration of U and Pu and TBP's inherent selectivity for U and Pu, a significant portion of Zr will be directed to the PUREX raffinate, where it exists alongside minor actinides and other fission products. Although the influence of Pu in the recommended feed for Zr separation is small, Pu separation has been explored only with academic interest.…”

“…Several amide-based extractants including solid phase extraction systems have been reported previously for the separation of different metal ions including Zr and Pu. [9,[46][47][48][49] The amides are expected to form a neutral solvating type complex with the metal ions in acidic conditions. The carbonyl group of the amide is expected to be polarized during this reaction.…”

“…Hydroxyacetamide based solvent extraction method was developed in our group to separate Zr from a simulated PUREX raffinate (also known as high-level waste), in which Zr is prevalent along with minor actinides, and the quantity of U and Pu is negligibly small. [9] Hydroxyacetamide based solid phase extraction methods using both coated as well as functionalized resins were also developed to separate Zr from high-level waste. [10,11] Traditional metal ion recovery techniques in the nuclear industry include liquid-liquid extraction, co precipitation, membrane filtration, ion exchange, and adsorption.…”