[1G11-14] Production, Separation, Recovery

[1G14] Fundamental study on enrichment mechanisms of lithium isotope exchange reactions using cation exchange chromatography

*Yu Tachibana¹, Tomasz Kalak², Masahiro Tanaka³ (1. Nagaoka Univ. of Tech., 2. Poznań University of Economics and Business, 3. NIFS)

Keywords:lithium isotope, isotope enrichment, enrichment mechanism, cation exchange chromatography, eluent

In cation exchange chromatography, an isotope separation coefficient per unit mass (ε/Δm), which indicates the degree of isotope separation behavior, depends on the hydrophobicity and the surface roughness of cation exchange resins. However, it is unknown how the difference in the valences of the used eluents affects this coefficient. In this study, lithium isotope enrichment experiments by cation exchange chromatography using three kinds of eluents (potassium acetate, magnesium acetate, and calcium acetate) were carried out to obtain the ε/Δm values, and the lithium isotope exchange mechanisms were cleared.