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US 12,002,595 B2Granted
Separation of metal ions by liquid-liquid extraction
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsRebecca J. Abergel, Gauthier J. P. Deblonde, Abel Ricano
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Abstract
Provided herein are separation processes for metal ions present in aqueous solutions based on methods involving liquid-liquid extraction. The separation process involves a chelator that can selectively bind to at least one of the metals at a relatively low pH. This can be used, for example, for recovery and purification of actinides from lanthanides, separation of metal ions based on their valence, and separation of metal ions based on the pH of the extraction conditions.
Claims15
A method of separating metal ions, comprising:
- contacting a liquid composition comprising a plurality of metal ions with an octadentate ligand, under conditions sufficient to form a metal ion-ligand complex comprising a metal ion of the plurality of metal ions, to generate a mixture enriched for the metal ion-ligand complex;
- and
- separating a first fraction of the mixture enriched for the metal ion-ligand complex from a second fraction depleted for the metal ion-ligand complex, wherein the first fraction of the mixture has an acidic pH of less than 1,
- wherein the plurality of metal ions are plutonium ions.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.