Formal transfer potentials of strontium and uranyl ions at water|1,2-dichloroethane interfaces

The extraction of dioxouranium (UO22+), or uranyl, and strontium (Sr2+) ions from spent nuclear fuel (SNF), often through a biphasic (aqueous / organic solvent) ligand assisted process, is critical for the implementation of a closed-loop nuclear fuel cycle whereby SNF is diverted from permanent geological disposal and the life of the nuclear industry is extended. Deeper understanding of the biphasic extraction process can be achieved through facile electrochemical experiments at a liquid|liquid interface. Of primary importance to developing a quantitative analysis of the ligand assisted or facilitated ion transfer (FIT) (i.e., transfer through interfacial complexation) case is to first quantify the free or simple metal IT; that is the amount of applied potential required to “push” ions across the water|organic interface. This value is, in fact, a constant referred to as the formal transfer potential ([Formula: see text]), which is unique to each metal ion in the biphasic system. Because of their hydrophilicity they often limit the polarizable potential window. Values for [Formula: see text], for the most part, have only been estimated. With a microinterface housed at the tip of a 25 µm capillary it is possible to reduce the Faradaic current to observe their transfer. Herein is described the quantification of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] or the formal transfer potentials for dioxouranium and strontium ions, respectively.