Purification of Lithium Carbonate from Radioactive Contaminants Using a MnO<sub>2</sub>-Based Inorganic Sorbent

The possibility of deep radiochemical purification of Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> has been examined in the context of the purification program of the AMoRE collaboration. In this experiment, commercial Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> was converted into L...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Olga Gileva, Pabitra Aryal, JunSeok Choe, Yena Kim, Yeongduk Kim, Eunkyung Lee, Moo Hyun Lee, Vitaly Milyutin, KeonAh Shin, Hyojin Yeon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:Inorganics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6740/11/10/410
Description
Summary:The possibility of deep radiochemical purification of Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> has been examined in the context of the purification program of the AMoRE collaboration. In this experiment, commercial Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> was converted into LiNO<sub>3</sub>. Co-precipitation with inorganic salt-based carriers followed by membrane filtration and sorption using MDM inorganic sorbent methods were tested for the removal of alkaline-earth and transition metals, potassium, magnesium, aluminum, uranium, thorium, and radium. The calcium molybdate-based carrier was the most efficient for removing Th, U, and K. Subsequently, the radium, calcium, and barium contamination was removed with MDM sorbent. After the impurities’ removal, the final Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> product was synthesized with NH<sub>4</sub>HCO<sub>3</sub> sludge. The separation factors were derived by means of ICP-MS and HPGe analyses of the initial material and the intermediate and final products. The study showed the optimum conditions of co-precipitation and sorption to reach a high yield and radiopurity of lithium carbonate used for low-radioactive-background experiments. The developed method is an important step toward performing next-generation large-scale (1-ton) neutrino experiments using Li-containing detectors.
ISSN:2304-6740