Synthesis of novel BTPhen-functionalized silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles for separating trivalent actinides and lanthanides

Abstract

BTPhen [bis-(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline] functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), which selectively extracts Am(III) over Eu(III) from 0.1 M HNO3 with fast kinetics and a separation factor of 30 have been synthesized. These MNPs also show a small but significant selectivity for Am(III) over Cm(III) with a separation factor of around 3 in 0.1 M HNO3. We report also the synthesis of these BTPhen and related ligands via an improved synthetic route by-passing the problematic benzylic oxidation with stoichiometric SeO2