[3I08-12] Isotope Enrichment and Mass Spectrometry

[3I08] Calcium isotope separation by DC18C6 crown-ether for neutrinoless double beta decay

*Anawat Rittirong Rittirong¹, Pantiwa Kumsut¹, Takaaki Yoshimoto¹, Ryuta Hazama¹, Tadafumi Kishimoto², Toshiyuki Fujii², Yoichi Sakuma³, Satoshi Fukutani⁴, Yuji Shibahara⁴, Ayaki Sunaga⁴ (1. Osaka Sangyo Univ., 2. Osaka Univ., 3. Tokyo Tech, 4. Kyoto Univ.)

Keywords:Isotope Separation, Calcium, Enrichment, Liquid-Liquid Extraction, 48Ca

This study aimed to investigate the isotope separation and enrichment of calcium via liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using DC18C6 crown-ether. This experiment aims to find a cost-effective way to enrich calcium-48 (⁴⁸Ca). The liquid-liquid extraction was carried out to find an appropriate isotope separation and enrichment condition. The measurement of calcium isotope composition was performed by reaction-cell ICP-MS. The maximum separation factor of ⁴⁸Ca/⁴⁰Ca was 1.007±0.004 in the aqueous phase under the presence of 12M HCl at the sixth iteration stage. The advantage of LLE was that the feed concentration is higher than other methods, resulting in the appropriate condition for mass production.