Application of hollow cylindrical wheat stem for electromembrane extraction of thorium in water samples

• Thorium is a radio element which often uses as fuel for nuclear reactors.
• The electromembrane extraction was done for cleanup of the water samples.
• Wheat stem was used in the electromembrane extraction instead of hollow fiber.
• Determination of the thorium was successfully performed in the water samples.

In this study, wheat stem was used for electromembrane extraction (EME) for the first time. The EME technique involved the use of a wheat stem whose channel was filled with 3 M HCl, immersed in 10 mL of an aqueous sample solution. Thorium migrated from aqueous samples, through a thin layer of 1-octanol and 5%v/v Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) immobilized in the pores of a porous stem, and into an acceptor phase solution present inside the lumen of the stem. The pH of donor and acceptor phases, extraction time, voltage, and stirring speed were optimized. At the optimum conditions, an enrichment factor of 50 and a limit of detection of 0.29 ng mL−1 was obtained for thorium. The developed procedure was then applied to the extraction and determination of thorium in water samples and in reference material.

Schematic diagram of EME setup.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide