Synergistic extraction of rare earth elements, actinium, americium, and barium with TTA and Pb resin from acetate buffer solutions

The uptake behavior of Y-88, Ba-140, La-140, Ce-141, Eu-152, Ac-228, and Am-241 was studied with batch uptake, kinetics and column studies in a synergistic extraction system with Pb resin and 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone in acetate-ethanol solutions. The k' values are very high (> 10,000) at near neutral pH (similar to 5 to 6) for all of the radioisotopes studied. The kinetics are reasonably fast for column separations, though the uptake rate is dependent on the concentration of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone. Column studies were performed to demonstrate the separation of the trivalent actinides and lanthanides from barium and common fission products (Mo-99, Ru-103).