Method for ²³⁶U Determination in Seawater Using Flow Injection Extraction Chromatography and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

Author(s)

Jixin Qiao, Xiaolin Hou, Peter Steier, Sven Nielsen, Robin Golser

Abstract

An automated analytical method implemented in a flow injection (FI) system was developed for rapid determination of

²³⁶U in 10 L seawater samples.

²³⁸U was used as a chemical yield tracer for the whole procedure, in which extraction chromatography (UTEVA) was exploited to purify uranium, after an effective iron hydroxide coprecipitation. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was applied for quantifying the

²³⁶U/

²³⁸U ratio, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) was used to determine the absolute concentration of

²³⁸U; thus, the concentration of

²³⁶U can be calculated. The key experimental parameters affecting the analytical effectiveness were investigated and optimized in order to achieve high chemical yields and simple and rapid analysis as well as low procedure background. Besides, the operational conditions for the target preparation prior to the AMS measurement were optimized, on the basis of studying the coprecipitation behavior of uranium with iron hydroxide. The analytical results indicate that the developed method is simple and robust, providing satisfactory chemical yields (80-100%) and high analysis speed (4 h/sample), which could be an appealing alternative to conventional manual methods for

²³⁶U determination in its tracer application.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Journal

Analytical Chemistry

Volume

87

Pages

7411-7417

No. of pages

7

ISSN

0003-2700

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01608

Publication date

07-2015

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103014 Nuclear physics, 104002 Analytical chemistry

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry

Portal url

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/method-for-236u-determination-in-seawater-using-flow-injection-extraction-chromatography-and-accelerator-mass-spectrometry(f9212e78-61d0-47ad-8c0a-1d68ebfc490a).html