Highly efficient separation of Am³⁺ and Eu³⁺ using an aqueous soluble sulfonated BTP derivative by hollow-fiber supported liquid membrane containing TODGA

Separation of Am3+ and Eu3+ was attempted using phenyl sulphonic acid functionalized bis-triazinyl pyridine (SO3-Ph-BTP) employing supported liquid membrane-based technique with varying concentrations of N,N,N’,N’-tetraoctyl diglycolamide as the liquid membrane. Supported liquid membrane-based separation of Am3+ and Eu3+ was attempted for the first time using a hollow-fiber contactor. A single-fiber-based hollow-fiber microextraction could selectively concentrate Am3+ with a volume reduction factor of >1000. On the other hand, Eu3+ was selectively transported from a mixture of Am3+ and Eu3+ from 100 ml feed solution containing SO3-Ph-BTP in 30 min with a DF >100.