Extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) with 4-methyl-N–n-octylaniline as an extracting agent

The liquid–liquid extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) with 4-methyl-N–n-octylaniline as an extracting agent are presented in detail. The optimum conditions for the distribution of Th(IV) and U(VI) between aqueous H 2 SO 4 acid and 4-methyl-N–n-octylaniline in xylene are performed. The effect of acidity and extracting agent concentration on the metal extraction are also studied. The range of H 2 SO 4 concentration investigated for quantitative evoking of Th(IV) was 0.7–0.9 mol L −1 using 2.0% of the reagent. The 0.1 mol L −1 nitric acid was used as strippant for Th(IV) loaded organic phase. Similarly, the range of H 2 SO 4 concentration investigated was 0.8 to 1.8 mol L −1 for quantitative evoking of U(VI) with 4.0% reagent concentration. Acetate buffer having pH of 4.5 was employed for stripping of U(VI) from the organic phase. Hence 4-methyl-N–n-octylaniline in xylene was found to be suitable reagent for extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI). The recovery percentages were warranted the accuracy and found around 99.2%. In addition, relative SD values were below 3%. The selective stripping was found to be useful for their mutual separation and determination.