Multi-podant diglycolamides and room temperature ionic liquid impregnated resins: An excellent combination for extraction chromatography of actinides

Extraction chromatography resins, prepared by impregnating two multi-podant diglycolamide ligands, viz. diglycolamide-functionalized calix[4]arene (C4DGA) and tripodal diglycolamide (T-DGA) dissolved in the room temperature ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (RTIL: C4mim Tf2N) on Chromosorb-W (an inert solid support), gave excellent results for the removal of trivalent actinides from acidic waste solutions. Distribution coefficient measurements on several metal ions showed selective sorption of Am(III) over hexavalent uranyl ions and other fission product elements such as strontium and cesium. The sorbed metal ions could be efficiently desorbed with a complexing solution containing guanidine carbonate and EDTA buffer. The sorption of Am(III) on both resins followed pseudo-second order rate kinetics with rate constants of 1.37 × 10−6 and 6.88 × 10−7 g/cpm min for T-DGA and C4DGA resins, respectively. The metal sorption on both resins indicated the Langmuir monolayer chemisorption phenomenon with Eu(III) sorption capacities of 4.83 ± 0.21 and 0.52 ± 0.05 mg per g of T-DGA and C4DGA resins, respectively. The results of column studies show that these resins are of interest for a possible application for the recovery of hazardous trivalent actinides from dilute aqueous solutions.