Extraction of pertechnetates from HNO(3) solutions into ionic liquids

The extraction of pertechnetate ions from aquous solutions containing various concentrations of nitric acid into hydrophobic ionic liquids (ILs) has been examined at 25, 50 and 70 °C. The results show that the distribution ratio of Tc (D(Tc)) between both phases weakly depends on the temperature and HNO(3) concentration when IL’s with relatively short aliphatic chains are used. The D(Tc) obtained for all examined ILs, except methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and 1-butyl-3-methylimidasolium hexafluorophosphate, are lower than 1.5. In the case of methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide a decrease of Tc concentration in aqueous solutions facilitates pertechnetate extraction into the organic phase.