Third phase formation behaviour of tris(2-methylbutyl) phosphate and tri-n-alkyl phosphates in the extraction of mineral acids and tetravalent metal ions

The formation of third phase is a detrimental phenomenon witnessed in the nuclear separation processes during the extraction of certain metal salts by an organic solution, which comprises of a neutral extractant, tri-n-butyl phosphate dispersed in a non-polar diluent, n-dodecane (n-C12H26). In the present work, a comparative analysis on the third phase formation behaviour of three trialkyl phosphates, TBP, its linear and branched higher homologues tri-n-amyl phosphate and tris(2-methylbutyl) phosphate (T2MBP), respectively, have been provided which will be useful for the identification of an extractant with minimum third phase formation tendency. The organic phase splitting behaviour during the extraction of three mineral acids (HClO4, HCl and HNO3) and two tetravalent metal nitrates (Th(IV) and Zr(IV)) by trialkyl phosphates has been investigated to understand the influence of anionic and cationic components, respectively, in third phase formation of trialkyl phosphates. The effect of structure of the alkyl groups of trialkyl phosphate and chain length of diluents on third phase formation during Zr(IV) extraction from HNO3 media have also been studied. Overall, the third phase formation behaviour of T2MBP was found to be lower both for the extraction of mineral acid and Zr(IV), thereby indicating its potentiality for applications in various solvent extraction processes.

A comparative study on the coordination of diglycolamide isomers with Nd(iii): extraction, third phase formation, structure, and computational studies

The inhomogeneous interactions of M–Oamide in the LII ligand result in differences between the metal-ion extraction performances of two isomeric ligands.

Reimagining Third Phase Formation as the Miscibility Gap of a Molecular Solution

Liquid/liquid phase transitions are inherent to multicomponent solutions, which often contain a diversity of intermolecular interactions between their molecular constituents. In one such example, a phase transition is observed in liquid/liquid extraction where the nonpolar organic phase separates into two phases under sufficiently high metal and acid extraction by the amphiphilic extractant molecule. This deleterious phenomenon, known as third phase formation, complicates processing and limits efficiency. While empirically well documented, the molecular origin of this phenomenon is not understood. The prevailing conceptualization of the organic phase treats it as a microemulsion where extractant molecules form reverse micelles that contain the extracted aqueous solutes in their polar cores. Yet recent studies indicate that a microemulsion paradigm is insufficient to describe molecular aggregation in some solvent extraction systems, implying that an alternative description of aggregation, and explanation for third phase formation, is needed. In this study, we demonstrate that the formation of a third phase is consistent with crossing the liquid-liquid miscibility gap for a molecular solution rather than a Winsor II to Winsor III transition as presumed in the microemulsion paradigm. This insight is provided by using a graph theoretic methodology, generalizable to other complex multicomponent molecular solutions, to identify the onset of phase splitting. This approach uses connectivity obtained from molecular dynamics simulation to correlate the molecular-scale association of extractants and extracted solutes to the solution phase behavior using percolation theory. The method is applied to investigate a solvent extraction system relevant to ore purification and used nuclear fuel recycling: tri-n-butyl phosphate/uranyl nitrate/water/nitric acid/n-dodecane. In analogy to a molecular solution, immediately preceding the liquid-liquid coexistence curve from the single phase region, the metal-ligand complexes percolate. This demonstrates that describing this solution with microemulsion chemistry is neither applicable nor broadly required to explain third phase formation. Additionally, the method developed herein can predict third phase formation phase boundaries from simulation for this and potentially other solvent extraction systems.

Reimagining Third Phase Formation as the Miscibility Gap of a Molecular Solution

Liquid/liquid phase transitions are inherent to multicomponent solutions, which often contain a diversity of intermolecular interactions between their molecular constituents. In one such example, a phase transition is observed in liquid/liquid extraction where the nonpolar organic phase separates into two phases under sufficiently high metal and acid extraction by the amphiphilic extractant molecule. This deleterious phenomenon, known as third phase formation, complicates processing and limits efficiency. While empirically well documented, the molecular origin of this phenomenon is not understood. The prevailing conceptualization of the organic phase treats it as a microemulsion where extractant molecules form reverse micelles that contain the extracted aqueous solutes in their polar cores. Yet recent studies indicate that a microemulsion paradigm is insufficient to describe molecular aggregation in some solvent extraction systems, implying that an alternative description of aggregation, and explanation for third phase formation, is needed. In this study, we demonstrate that the formation of a third phase is consistent with crossing the liquid-liquid miscibility gap for a molecular solution rather than a Winsor II to Winsor III transition as presumed in the microemulsion paradigm. This insight is provided by using a graph theoretic methodology, generalizable to other complex multicomponent molecular solutions, to identify the onset of phase splitting. This approach uses connectivity obtained from molecular dynamics simulation to correlate the molecular-scale association of extractants and extracted solutes to the solution phase behavior using percolation theory. The method is applied to investigate a solvent extraction system relevant to ore purification and used nuclear fuel recycling: tri-n-butyl phosphate/uranyl nitrate/water/nitric acid/n-dodecane. In analogy to a molecular solution, immediately preceding the liquid-liquid coexistence curve from the single phase region, the metal-ligand complexes percolate. This demonstrates that describing this solution with microemulsion chemistry is neither applicable nor broadly required to explain third phase formation. Additionally, the method developed herein can predict third phase formation phase boundaries from simulation for this and potentially other solvent extraction systems.

Probing the absence of third phase formation during the extraction of trivalent metal ions in an ionic liquid medium

In contrast to molecular diluents, diglycolamide (T2EHDGA) and carbamoylmethyl-phosphine oxide (CMPO) extractants diluted in an ionic liquid diluent minimize aggregation upon nitric acid extraction and prevent third phase formation during the course of solvent extraction.