Dicyclohexano 18 crown 6 in butanol-octanol mixture: A promising extractant of Sr(II) from nitric acid medium.

The extraction of strontium from nitric acid medium was investigated employing DCH18C6 in aliphatic alcohols as the diluents. 80% Butanol-20% octanol mixture was found to give higher D(Sr) values as compared to other alcohols investigated. A linear correlation between the organic phase water content and D(Sr) was observed, based on which the extraction mechanism was postulated. Effect of anion, cation, extractant concentration, nitric acid concentration and temperature on D(Sr) was also studied. Conditions for recovery (>90%) were arrived at and selectivity with respect to other interfering fission products was observed with most of the metal ions studied.