Separation of Long-Lived 108mAg from 152Eu and 60Co Using Polyethylene Glycol Based Aqueous Two Phase Systems

Abstract

An environmentally benign aqueous two phase system has been developed for the separation of ^108mAg from ¹⁵²Eu and ⁶⁰Co using polyethylene glycol/salt system. Twelve salts (nine inorganic, three organic) and PEG 4000 were chosen to form the ATPS out of which, the best separation was observed for 3 mL 2 mol·dm⁻³ K₃PO₄: 3 mL PEG 4000 followed by 3 mL 2 mol·dm⁻³ Na₂SO₄: 3 mL PEG 4000. In both cases, silver was preferentially extracted in the PEG rich phase. The separation factors achieved were S_Ag/Co = 2.11 × 10³ and S_Ag/Eu = 2.79 × 10² in the case of 2 mol·dm⁻³ K₃PO₄: PEG 4000 combination.