Stability of Different BTBP and BTPhen Extracting or Masking Compounds against γ Radiation

The radiolytic stability of hydrophobic extracting compounds CyMe₄-BTBP and CyMe₄-BTPhen and a hydrophilic masking agent (PhSO₃H)₂-BTPhen, widely employed for trivalent minor actinoid and lanthanoid separation, against γ radiation was tested. Even though the solvent with a promising fluorinated diluent BK-1 provides better extraction properties compared to octan-1-ol, its radiation stability is much lower, and no extraction was observed already after an absorbed dose of 150 kGy (CyMe₄-BTBP) or 200 kGy (CyMe₄-BTPhen). For the (PhSO₃H)₂-BTPhen hydrophilic masking agent, the results showed that the rate of radiolytic degradation was significantly higher in 0.25 M HNO₃ than in 0.5 M HNO₃. For both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic agents, degradation was slower in the presence of both organic and aqueous phases during irradiation.