花岗岩中痕量钚的分离方法研究

Study on Separation Method of Trace Plutonium in Granite

  • 摘要: 钚是放射性环境监测及普查中重点关注的放射性核素之一。岩石/土壤样品的不完全消解是影响钚测量准确性的首要问题。使用氟化氢铵作为消解剂可以提高消解温度,实现花岗岩的全溶解。为支撑钚形态分析和分离流程的建立,本研究利用19F NMR定性分析了溶解液中氟络合物形态及含量,并用Hyss2009软件预测了痕量钚的络合形态。针对共沉淀方法回收率低和不稳定的问题,提出采用DMDODGA树脂定量吸附含氟溶解液中的痕量钚。根据DMDODGA树脂对溶解液中各元素吸附性能差异,建立了10 g花岗岩中痕量钚的分离纯化方法,钚回收率为98.2%,镅、铀、锝等元素的去污因子大于104。该方法实现了花岗岩的全消解,有效提升了分离效率,同时避免了沉淀载体和氟掩蔽试剂的加入,简化了操作,适用于难溶环境样品中钚的精确分析。

     

    Abstract: Plutonium (Pu) is a critical radionuclide of major concern in national security and radiation safety. Accurate determination of Pu in environmental matrices is essential for research on nuclide migration, environmental monitoring around nuclear facilities, and nuclear environmental assessment. Incomplete sample digestion adversely affects the accuracy of both plutonium concentration and isotopic ratio measurements. Therefore, digestion protocols must be adapted to different types of environmental samples. Ammonium bifluoride (NH4HF2) was employed to digest granite, achieving complete dissolution at elevated temperatures. To facilitate plutonium speciation determination and the establishment of the separation procedure, 19F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to qualitatively analyze the speciation and concentration of fluorine complexes in the dissolution solution. Aluminum fluoride and silicon fluoride complexes were identified, with no detectable free HF. The total fluoride ion concentration was approximately 0.4 mol/L. Software-based speciation calculations indicate that 99.9% of Pu(Ⅳ) exists as fluoride complexes, resulting in low separation recovery. To address this, N, N'-dimethyl-N, N'-dioctyl-3-oxapentanediamide (DMDODGA) resin was used to efficiently adsorb plutonium from the digestion solution. The adsorption behavior of Pu(Ⅳ) and coexisting elements on this resin was systematically investigated. In 8 mol/L HCl, the distribution coefficient (Kd) of Pu(Ⅳ) is 2.6×104 mL/g. The results indicate that the rigid complexation structure of DMDODGA allows the resin to compete with fluoride ligands, extracting Pu(Ⅳ) from its fluoride complexes with nitrate or chloride as counter anions. Moreover, in dilute acid media, the Kd values for uranium and major rock matrix elements are below 10 mL/g, enabling efficient separation of Pu(Ⅳ) from these interfering elements. This approach improves the Pu(Ⅳ) recovery to 99.3%, eliminating the instability and the low recovery of coprecipitation while simplifying the overall separation procedure. Based on these results, a protocol for trace Pu(Ⅳ) determination in 10 g granite samples is established. The overall Pu(Ⅳ) recovery is 98.2%, with decontamination factors (DFs) exceeding 104 for Am(Ⅲ), U(Ⅵ), and Tc(Ⅶ), and exceeding 106 for matrix elements. This method enables direct adsorption of trace Pu(Ⅳ) from fluoride-containing digests without fluoride masking agents or carrier coprecipitation, overcoming inaccuracies in determination caused by incomplete dissolution. This method provides a robust solution for radiation safety, nuclear source term identification, and nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

     

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