title: Method for (236)U Determination in Seawater Using Flow Injection Extraction Chromatography and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry.
abstract: An automated analytical method implemented in a flow injection (FI) system was developed for rapid determination of (236)U in 10 L seawater samples. (238)U was used as a chemical yield tracer for the whole procedure, in which extraction chromatography (UTEVA) was exploited to purify uranium, after an effective iron hydroxide coprecipitation. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was applied for quantifying the (236)U/(238)U ratio, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) was used to determine the absolute concentration of (238)U; thus, the concentration of (236)U can be calculated. The key experimental parameters affecting the analytical effectiveness were investigated and optimized in order to achieve high chemical yields and simple and rapid analysis as well as low procedure background. Besides, the operational conditions for the target preparation prior to the AMS measurement were optimized, on the basis of studying the coprecipitation behavior of uranium with iron hydroxide. The analytical results indicate that the developed method is simple and robust, providing satisfactory chemical yields (80-100%) and high analysis speed (4 h/sample), which could be an appealing alternative to conventional manual methods for (236)U determination in its tracer application.
authors.affiliation: †Center of Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jixin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: †Center of Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.|§Xi'an AMS Center, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710075, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: ‡VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics - Isotope Research, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steier
authors.affiliation: †Center of Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: ‡VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics - Isotope Research, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golser