Chlor-Isotopenseparation an einem wasserhaltigen Zirkondioxidaustauscher / Chlorine Isotope Separation Using an Hydrous Zirconium Dioxide Exchanger

Abstract

Abstract Hydrous zirconium dioxide is used in column experiments for separating the halide ions as well as for isotope fractionation of chlorine. The preparation of the zirconium dioxide particles is carried out by homogeneous hydrolysis of a zirconyl chloride solution using hexamethylenetetramine. The separation order of the halides is I-, Br- and Cl- in contrast to the inverse separation order using a strongly basic anion exchange resin. In chlorine isotope separation experiments an enrichment of 35Cl- is found in the first fractions, whereas the last fractions show a significant enrichment of 37C1-. This also indicates an inversion of the isotope separation compared with a strongly basic anion exchange resin. A dependence of the isotope fractionation on the concentration of the NaNO3 solution used as eluant is found. With increasing concentration the isotope fractionation decreases. Using a 0.5 M NaNO3 solution the elementary separation effect was calculated e = 6,1 · 10-4 . This is one of the highest isotope fractionations known in a chloride isotope exchange system. The results show that the electrolyte behaviour of isotopes is comparable to that of a series of homologous elements.