Background Rn-rejected actinide in air spectroscopy
The method of separating an actinide within a mixture of an Rn-progeny alpha emitting isotope includes disposing a continuous air monitoring filter in acetone. The acetone is then evaporated, thereby forming a residue. The residue is mixed with a first solution including nitric acid, thus forming a first blend. The first blend is mixed with a second solution including an extraction solvent, thus forming a second blend. The second blend is stratified into a first layer and a second layer. The first layer is extracted from the second blend, thus separating the actinide from the Rn-progeny alpha emitting isotope.
1. A method of separating an actinide within a mixture of at least one Rn-progeny alpha emitting isotope, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a continuous air monitoring filter;
disposing the continuous air monitoring filter in acetone;
evaporating the acetone, thereby forming a residue;
mixing the residue with a first solution including nitric acid, thus forming a first blend;
mixing the first blend with a second solution including an extraction solvent, thus forming a second blend;
stratifying the second blend into a first layer and a second layer;
extracting the first layer from the second blend, thus separating the actinide from the at least one Rn-proeny alpha emitting isotope.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extraction solvent includes tributyl phosphate.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the extraction solvent also includes diisopropyl fluorophosphate.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of filtering a solid particle from the second blend after the step of mixing the residue with the first solution, but before the step of stratifying the second blend into a first layer and a second layer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of extracting the first layer from the second blend includes utilizing gravimetric extraction.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the molarity of the nitric acid is around 0.1M.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the molarity of the nitric acid is around 6M.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the molarity of the nitric acid is around 15M.
9. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second solution has a greater weight percentage ratio of diisopropyl fluorophosphate than tributyl phosphate.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second solution has around a 2:1 weight percentage ratio of diisopropyl fluorophosphate and tributyl phosphate, respectively.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the continuous air monitoring filter is a polycarbonate filter.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the continuous air monitoring filter has a pore size less than 10 μm.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the continuous air monitoring filter has a pore size around 3 μm.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first layer includes the tributyl phosphate and the actinide, the first layer is characterized by the absence of the Rn-progeny alpha emitting isotope.