Recovery of fission palladium by electrodeposition using room temperature ionic liquids

Room temperature molten salts for possible application of recovery of fission palladium from irradiated nuclear fuel/wastes have been investigated. The redox behavior of a solution of palladium(II) chloride and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (bmimCl) at glassy carbon working electrode has been studied at various temperatures using cyclic voltammetry. The voltammogram of bmimCl-PdCl2consists of a single reduction and two oxidation waves indicating that Pd2+undergoes a single step two-electron quasi-reversible reduction process at the working electrode. Controlled potential deposition of palladium on platinum electrode gave a black deposit, which was characterized to be metallic palladium. Extraction of palladium by Aliquat-336 has been studied as a function of nitric acid concentration and the redox behavior of palladium in Aliquat-336 phase has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The results suggest that some aqueous insoluble room temperature ionic liquids can act both as extractant and electrolytic medium and also have the potential of recovering of palladium from nuclear wastes.