Abstract/Summary

Low doses of gamma radiation were given to four different solvents containing C5-BTBP and CyMe4-BTBP, each molecule dissolved both in cyclohexanone and hexanol. Four corresponding solvents were kept unirradiated and used as references for the extraction experiments. Multiple samples were taken from both the irradiated solutions and the reference solutions at certain time intervals. The samples were used in extraction experiments with the radionuclides Am-241 and Eu-152. The protection against radiolysis of the extracting molecules by the diluent used for dissolution without adding a scavenger molecule was checked. The interplay between the diluent and the side group of the extracting molecule for protection against radiolysis was also studied by keeping the same type of core molecule for binding to the metal ions and varying the diluent and side group. The results were unexpected. The presence of a cyclic molecule as both a side group or diluent seems to keep the extraction of europium almost unaffected by radiolysis, while americium behaves differently from solvent to solvent. The diluent alone does not protect the extracting molecule. In some of the studied systems there is a distinct change in the extraction behaviour of Am between the irradiated and reference solutions, an effect that is however only present at the beginning of the experimental series. At later times the difference in distribution ratios between the irradiated and reference solution is constant. This phenomenon is found only when the side group and diluent are structurally dissimilar.