Abstract

The influence of molybdenum concentration and resin amount on the retention of molybdenum in 5M NaOH on Dowex^TM-1 columns with successive elutions of saline and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) was investigated. Studies were performed with 45, 75, 125, 175, or 250 mg of resin and at 100 and 250 mg/mL molybdenum concentrations. Initial pass-through molybdenum recoveries from the column were 97.8% at 100 mg/L and 97.8% at 250 mg/mL (n=3 at each resin amount). Molybdenum breakthrough into TBAB solvent was low for all five resin amounts. Values for the 100mg/mL solution were 0.33 – 3.73 ppm, representing 0.0002 - 0.0014% of the original molybdenum load; and were 0.96 - 11.27 ppm for the 250 mg/mL solution, equivalent to 0.0002 – 0.0027%. Breakthrough into TBAB is generally higher with higher resin amounts for both the 100 mg/ml and 250 mg/mL molybdenum concentrations. The resin can be used for high molybdenum loads, with care taken to optimize the relative resin-solute amounts.

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