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Spectroscopic studies on uranyl complexes with tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in ionic liquids

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Abstract

The complexes formed from uranyl salts and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in ionic liquids (ILs) were studied by spectroscopic methods. [UO2(TBP)4]2+ is formed from UO2(ClO4)2·xH2O with excess of TBP in ILs. The coordination number of uranyl in [UO2(TBP)4]2+ is determined as 4 by ATR–FTIR study. In [Bmim][NTf2], though TBP cannot replace the NO3 − coordinated to uranyl, TBP/[Bmim][NTf2] can extract “nitrate-free” uranyl complex from diluted HNO3 medium and the extracted complex is converted into [UO2(TBP)4]2+ after drying. The formation of [UO2(TBP)4]2+ provides spectroscopic evidence for the cation-exchange mechanism of uranyl extraction by TBP/[Bmim][NTf2] from diluted HNO3 medium.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91026011 & No. 11575010) for financial support.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Radiochemistry and Radiation Chemistry Key Laboratory of Fundamental Science, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

      Yue Wang, Yupeng Liu & Taiwei Chu

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    1. Yue Wang
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    2. Yupeng Liu
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    3. Taiwei Chu
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    Correspondence to Taiwei Chu.

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    Yue Wang and Yupeng Liu have contributed equally to this work.

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    Wang, Y., Liu, Y. & Chu, T. Spectroscopic studies on uranyl complexes with tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in ionic liquids. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 308, 1071–1079 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4608-1

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