AN EXTERNAL BEAM TECHNIQUE OF PIXE FOR URANIUM DETERMINATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTS

The possibilities of the determination of the content of uranium in materials of the nuclear fuel cycle and environmental objects using the nuclear-physical methods of analysis based on registration of characteristic X-rays excited by protons (PIXE) are considered. It is shown that the introduction to X-ray emission spectrometer the element with a wave dispersion – a pyrocarbon filter, using Bragg-Wulf reflection from the planes of the crystal lattice, makes it possible to reduce the detection limit of uranium in the presence of interfering impurities to a value of 0.0005 mas.%. The proposed approach can be used to determine Th, Pu, and other actinides.

Sensitive Determination of Uranium in Natural Waters Using UV-Vis Spectrometry After Preconcentration by Ion-Imprinted Polymer-Ternary Complexes

The main purpose of this study was to achieve a substantial increase in the sensitivity of the uranium determination using UV-Vis spectrometry. To achieve this goal, ion-imprinted polymers were prepared for the uranyl (imprint) ion by the formation of a ternary (salicylaldoxime and 4-vinylpyridine) complex in 2-methoxy ethanol (porogen) following copolymerization with methacrylic acid. The synthesized polymers were characterized by FTIR analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. In the preconcentration step, the optimal pH was determined to be between values of 3.5 and 6.5. The adsorbed UO22+ was completely eluted by 10 mL of 3.0 mol L−1 HClO4. The developed method was applied to uranium (VI) determination in natural water samples. By using the initial volume of 500 mL and final volume of 5 mL, a concentration of 1 μg L−1 can be determined by applying the developed method in this study.