Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment
Nuclear fusion is a phenomenon that is well known within the nuclear physics community as a viable option for alternative energy as many natural gases and fossil fuels are phased out of commercial use. Deuterium and tritium fusion reactions are currently the leading candidates for nuclear fusion, wi...
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2024-11-01
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| author | Jesse E. Smith Kori D. McDonald Dale A. Hitchcock Brenda L. Garcia-Diaz |
| author_facet | Jesse E. Smith Kori D. McDonald Dale A. Hitchcock Brenda L. Garcia-Diaz |
| author_sort | Jesse E. Smith |
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| description | Nuclear fusion is a phenomenon that is well known within the nuclear physics community as a viable option for alternative energy as many natural gases and fossil fuels are phased out of commercial use. Deuterium and tritium fusion reactions are currently the leading candidates for nuclear fusion, with a major limiting factor being a means to produce tritium on an industrial scale. Lithium-6 is a well-known isotope that can produce tritium and helium following a fission reaction with a neutron. Unfortunately, the lithium-6 enrichment methods are limited to the COLEX process, which leaves behind an alarming amount of mercury waste as a potential environmental contaminant. Deep eutectic solvents are believed to be a potential alternative to lithium isotope separations due to the ease of generation, in addition to the minimum environmental waste generated when these solvents are employed. Previous studies have suggested that deep eutectic solvents are capable of separating lithium isotopes by utilizing a 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone and trioctylphosphine oxide system that can biphasically react with a buffered solution containing lithium chloride. This system displays a separation factor of 1.068, which when compared to the 1.054 separation within the COLEX process, makes it a potential candidate for lithium-6/7 separation. Within this study, we investigate this system in comparison to two newly synthesized deep eutectic solvents and find that within these acetylacetone-based systems, little isotopic separation is observed. We investigate these systems both experimentally and computationally, showing the different lithium cation affinities, in addition to proposing how the electron-donating or -withdrawing nature can influence these systems. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-94f4023b98694480a13f2947e1c498412024-11-26T18:21:57ZengMDPI AGSeparations2297-87392024-11-01111131410.3390/separations11110314Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope EnrichmentJesse E. Smith0Kori D. McDonald1Dale A. Hitchcock2Brenda L. Garcia-Diaz3Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29803, USASavannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29803, USASavannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29803, USASavannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29803, USANuclear fusion is a phenomenon that is well known within the nuclear physics community as a viable option for alternative energy as many natural gases and fossil fuels are phased out of commercial use. Deuterium and tritium fusion reactions are currently the leading candidates for nuclear fusion, with a major limiting factor being a means to produce tritium on an industrial scale. Lithium-6 is a well-known isotope that can produce tritium and helium following a fission reaction with a neutron. Unfortunately, the lithium-6 enrichment methods are limited to the COLEX process, which leaves behind an alarming amount of mercury waste as a potential environmental contaminant. Deep eutectic solvents are believed to be a potential alternative to lithium isotope separations due to the ease of generation, in addition to the minimum environmental waste generated when these solvents are employed. Previous studies have suggested that deep eutectic solvents are capable of separating lithium isotopes by utilizing a 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone and trioctylphosphine oxide system that can biphasically react with a buffered solution containing lithium chloride. This system displays a separation factor of 1.068, which when compared to the 1.054 separation within the COLEX process, makes it a potential candidate for lithium-6/7 separation. Within this study, we investigate this system in comparison to two newly synthesized deep eutectic solvents and find that within these acetylacetone-based systems, little isotopic separation is observed. We investigate these systems both experimentally and computationally, showing the different lithium cation affinities, in addition to proposing how the electron-donating or -withdrawing nature can influence these systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/11/11/314deep eutectic solventslithium isotope separationaqueous extractions |
| spellingShingle | Jesse E. Smith Kori D. McDonald Dale A. Hitchcock Brenda L. Garcia-Diaz Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment Separations deep eutectic solvents lithium isotope separation aqueous extractions |
| title | Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment |
| title_full | Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment |
| title_fullStr | Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment |
| title_short | Deep Eutectic Solvents as Candidates for Lithium Isotope Enrichment |
| title_sort | deep eutectic solvents as candidates for lithium isotope enrichment |
| topic | deep eutectic solvents lithium isotope separation aqueous extractions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2297-8739/11/11/314 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jesseesmith deepeutecticsolventsascandidatesforlithiumisotopeenrichment AT koridmcdonald deepeutecticsolventsascandidatesforlithiumisotopeenrichment AT daleahitchcock deepeutecticsolventsascandidatesforlithiumisotopeenrichment AT brendalgarciadiaz deepeutecticsolventsascandidatesforlithiumisotopeenrichment |