INFLUENCE OF MEMBRANE SOLVENT ON STRONTIUM TRANSPORT FROM REPROCESSING CONCENTRATE SOLUTIONS THROUGH FLAT-SHEET-SUPPORTED LIQUID MEMBRANES

The influence of membrane solvents on strontium transport from nuclear fuel reprocessing concentrate solutions to demineralized water through a flat-sheet-supported liquid membrane has been studied using dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 as the extractant and Celgard 2500 as the solid support. Even though the highest values of the distribution coefficients of strontium were obtained with nitrated compounds as membrane solvents, strontium permeabilities were determined only when a membrane solvent was used for which stable SLMs were obtained. Among the latter, the use of 4-nonylphenol as a phase modifier is not satisfactory for long-term strontium transport experiments due to its reactivity with the nitric acid of the aqueous feed solution. We achieved a good correlation between strontium permeability and two parameters of the membrane diffusion coefficient (molecular weight and viscosity of the membrane solvent) for aromatic solvents modified with isotridecanol or 1-decanol. The best results were obtained with n-hexylbenzene (0.7 mol. L-1 isotridecanol) which should lead to a high strontium decontamination by hollow-fiber-supported liquid membranes. The transport of nitric acid and nonradioactive cations through the membrane was not greatly influenced by the membrane solvent used.