Patent US10562835

Method for producing thorium-226
[+] Show Details

US10562835

1. A method, comprising: (4) (3)

forming a first solution comprising uranium-230 and thorium-226;

contacting a first resin with the first solution such that the uranium-230 and the thorium-226 bind to the first resin, wherein the first resin is a diglycolamide resin, a monoamide resin, a malonamide resin, or a multi-podant DGA ligand,

eluting the thorium-226 from the first resin with a carboxylic acid-based chelating buffer to form a second solution comprising the thorium-226 and the carboxylic acid-based chelating buffer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first solution comprises a first mineral acid having a first acid concentration of from greater than 2 M to 12 M. (1) (0)

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first resin is N,N,N′,N′-tetra-n-octyldiglycolamide, or N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis-2-ethylhexyldiglycolamide. (0)

5. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to eluting the thorium-226 the method comprises eluting the uranium-230 from the first resin with a second mineral acid to form a third solution. (3) (0)

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second mineral acid is nitric acid. (0)

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second mineral acid has a second acid concentration of from greater than zero to less than 6M. (0)

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising: (1) (3)

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the chelating buffer comprises a carboxylic acid, a hydroxyl group, or a combination thereof. (2) (0)

10. A method, comprising: (2) (5)

forming a first solution comprising uranium-230 and thorium-226;

contacting a first resin selected from a phosphonic acid resin, a phosphine oxide resin, or a phosphine sulfide resin with the first solution such that the uranium-230 and the thorium-226 bind to the first resin;

eluting the thorium-226 from the first resin with a mineral acid to form a second solution, the mineral acid having an acid concentration of from 0.5 M to 4 M;

contacting a cation exchange resin with the second solution; and

eluting the thorium-226 from the cation exchange resin with the chelating buffer to form a third solution.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising allowing the first resin and uranium-230 to stand for a time period sufficient for a portion of the uranium-230 on the first resin to decay to form additional thorium-226, and eluting the additional thorium-226 from the first resin with an additional amount of the mineral acid. (1) (0)

18. The method of claim 10, comprising: (1) (5)

forming the first solution comprising uranium-230 and thorium-226 in 6M hydrochloric acid;

contacting the first resin with the first solution to bind the uranium-230 and thorium-226 to the first resin;

eluting the thorium-226 from the first resin with a first portion of hydrochloric acid having an acid concentration of from 0.5 M to 4 M to form the second solution;

contacting the cation exchange resin with the second solution; and

eluting the thorium-226 from the cation exchange resin with the chelating buffer to form the third solution comprising thorium-226, wherein the chelating buffer comprises a carboxylic acid and has a pH of from 4 to 6.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the chelating buffer comprises citric acid. (0)

16. A method, comprising: (1) (4)

forming a first solution comprising uranium-230 and thorium-226 in 6M hydrochloric acid;

contacting a diglycolamide resin with the first solution to bind the uranium-230 and thorium-226 to the resin;

eluting the uranium-230 from the resin with nitric acid having a nitric acid concentration of from 0.01 M to 0.25 M, to form a second solution comprising uranium-230;

eluting the thorium-226 from the resin with a chelating buffer to form a third solution comprising thorium-226, the chelating buffer comprising a carboxylic acid and having a pH of from 2 to 6.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the chelating buffer comprises citric acid. (0)

View Abstract and Specification Size

PDF with Images and Document Face >

Full Text Publication >

Patent US10562835

Method for producing thorium-226

Patent Matrix® Search