Neutron Polarization Analysis for Biphasic Solvent Extraction Systems

Journal Article · Thu Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2016.1201980· OSTI ID:1319185

Motokawa, Ryuhei ^[1]; Endo, Hitoshi ^[2]; Nagao, Michihiro ^[3]; Heller, William T. ^[4]

---

1. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Tokai (Japan). Materials Research Center
2. High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba (Japan); Graduate Univ. for Adanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Ibaraki (Japan)
3. National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter; Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Here we performed neutron polarization analysis (NPA) of extracted organic phases containing complexes, comprised of Zr(NO₃)₄ and tri-n-butyl phosphate, which enabled decomposition of the intensity distribution of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) into the coherent and incoherent scattering components. The coherent scattering intensity, containing structural information, and the incoherent scattering compete over a wide range of magnitude of scattering vector, q, specifically when q is larger than q* ≈ 1/R_g, where R_g is the radius of gyration of scatterer. Therefore, it is important to determine the incoherent scattering intensity exactly to perform an accurate structural analysis from SANS data when R_g is small, such as the aforementioned extracted coordination species. Although NPA is the best method for evaluating the incoherent scattering component for accurately determining the coherent scattering in SANS, this method is not used frequently in SANS data analysis because it is technically challenging. In this study, we successfully demonstrated that experimental determination of the incoherent scattering using NPA is suitable for sample systems containing a small scatterer with a weak coherent scattering intensity, such as extracted complexes in biphasic solvent extraction systems.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1319185
• Journal Information: Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, Vol. 34, Issue 5; ISSN 0736-6299
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Neutron polarization analysis
solvent extraction
tri-n-butyl phosphate