The TALSPEAK process for lanthanide/actinide separations was developed at ORNL in the 1960s and this and relates separations methods have seen significant process development research during the intervening years. Recent work in this lab has focused on improving understanding of the fundamental chemistry that underpins this process. To address several interesting anomalies that are known to plague TALSPEAK and TALSPEAK-like separations, we have applied a variety of analytical methods to the characterization of solvent-solute and solvent-solvent interactions in conventional TALSPEAK separations systems. The objective is to gain fresh insights into the chemical processes that drive (and limit the application of) this moderately versatile process. In this presentation, the coordination of observations from NMR, ESI-MS, neutron scattering, radioanalytical chemistry and optical spectroscopic studies are combined with new thermodynamic data to provide fresh insights into lanthanide-actinide separations systems based on aqueous complexing agents.    Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, NEUP and Sigma Team for Minor Actinide Separations programs.

Teasing out the details of TALSPEAK separations using multiple modes of analysis

245th National Meeting (2013)

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