Selective americium(III) complexation by dithiophosphinates: a density functional theoretical validation for covalent interactions responsible for unusual separation behavior from trivalent lanthanides.

The separation of trivalent actinides and lanthanides is a challenging task for chemists because of their similar charge and chemical behavior. Soft donor ligands like Cyanex-301 were found to be selective for the trivalent actinides over the lanthanides. Formation of different extractable species for Am(3+) and various lanthanides (viz.

A pH dependent transport and back transport of americium(III) through the cellulose triacetate composite polymer membrane of cyanex-301 and TBP: role of H-bonding interactions.

Transport of Am(III) was studied through the composite polymer membrane of Cyanex-301 [bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)dithiophosphinic acid] and tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP). Depending on the pH of the strip solution containing alpha-hydroxyisobutyric acid (AHIBA), the transport behaviour of Am(III) was changed significantly. After approximately 70% of the Am(III) transported to the strip side, interestingly, back transport of Am(III) was observed at a pH of 3.