Abstract
A low cost and selective method has been developed for the separation of trace concentrations of Y-90(3+) from its parent Sr-89(2+). The proposed procedure is based upon complete retention of Y-90(3+) onto zirconium-vanadate (Zr-V) gel ion exchanger packed column from aqueous solutions containing HCl (1.0 x 10(-5)mol dm(-3)). Under these conditions, Sr-89(2+) species were not retained onto Zr-V sorbent. The retained Y-90(3+) species were then recovered with HCl. The performance of Zr-V sorbent packed column was determined via the height equivalent to the theoretical plates (HETP) and the number of plates (N). Validation of the developed method was checked by calculating the radionuclidic purity in terms of purification factor (P (f) = A/A(0)) and radiochemical purity of the eluted Y-90 from the column. Zr-V sorbent packed column offers unique advantages of retention and quantitative separation of Y-90 from retention over conventional solid sorbents in rapid and effective separation of trace concentration of Y-90(3+) from Sr-89(2+) in their aqueous equilibrium media.