The ion chromatographic separation of high valence metal cations using a neutral polystyrene resin dynamically modified with dipicolinic acid.

A neutral polystyrene resin column, dynamically loaded with dipicolinic acid at a concentration of 0.1 mM in 1 M potassium nitrate eluent, was investigated for the separation characteristics of a number of high valence metal cations over the pH range 0-3. The metal species studied were Th(IV), U(VI), Zr(IV), Hf(IV), Ti(IV), Sn(IV), V(IV) and V(V), Fe(III) and Bi(III), of which Ti(IV), Sn(IV), V(IV) and Fe(III) did not show any retention. For the remaining metal ions, significant retention was obtained with good peak shapes, except for Th(IV), which moved only slightly from the solvent front with some tailing. The retention order at pH 0.3 was Th(IV) < V(V) < Bi(III) < U(VI) < Hf(IV) < Zr(IV). A notable feature of this separation system was the high selectivity shown for uranium, zirconium and hafnium, the last two being nearly resolved in 15 min on the relatively short 10 cm column.