Solvent Extraction of Zirconium and Hafnium

A review on the studies of solvent extraction of zirconium and hafnium, either individually or together from other associated elements, using various solvents has been presented. In the Periodic Table, one can trace some element pairs, which have very closely similar chemical properties. Of these, zirconium and hafnium, due to lanthanide contraction form one such typical pairs, which generally occur together in nature and hence are termed congeneric. Segregation of these elements and separation of the individual metals from the complex matrix is of considerable importance in geochemistry and reactor technology. Of the various methods employed in separation chemistry, liquid-liquid extraction procedure is widely used for its high degree of selectivity under specific conditions. In order to develop a simple selective separation procedure of zirconium and hafnium it is necessary to study the extraction of the individual elements with different types of solvents. The following discussion has been classified with respect to the various classes of solvents used. At the end, a brief summary of the different systems together with the conditions chosen and literature citation s have been given in a tabular form.