Extraction mechanism of cerium(IV) in H2SO4/H3PO4 system using bifunctional ionic liquid extractants

The extraction of Ce(IV) in H2SO4/H3PO4 system was investigated systematically using bifunctional ionic liquid extractants (Bif-ILES) [A336][P507], [A336][P204] and [A336][C272] in n-heptane. The effects of H2SO4 concentration, extractant concentration and salting-out agent concentration were observed in detail. The extraction mechanism of Ce(IV) in H2SO4/H3PO4 system was obtained. The comparison with other extractants such as Cyanex923, TBP was also studied. Thermodynamic functions of the extraction reaction were calculated, showing that the extraction was an exothermic process. The separation of Ce(IV) from RE(III) and Th(IV) was also investigated. The result indicated that Ce(IV) could be selectively extracted in this system. CePO4 nanoparticles were obtained in the process of stripping using H2O2 in H2SO4/H3PO4 system. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and spectroscopy were adopted for the characterization of the sample.