Proposal of a New Hf(IV)/Zr(IV) Separation System by the Solvent Extraction Method

Abstract

A liquid-liquid extraction study has been conducted to separate hafnium from zirconium, using Cyanex 301 in kerosene. It was observed that the initial pH increase caused an increase in the Zr(IV)/Hf(IV) separation factor. Moreover, the distribution decreased with the temperature increase, suggesting that the reaction is exothermic. In agreement with the resulting data, the optimum separation factor illustrates the value of 7 at a pH of 4.00 in the presence of NaCl as an added salt. The attractive characteristic of the presently designed method is the higher extractability of hafnium-Cyanex 301 relative to zirconium-Cyanex 301 complexes.