Ultra-Efficient Americium/Lanthanide Separation through Oxidation State Control

Lanthanide/actinide separation is a worldwide challenge for atomic energy and nuclear waste treatment. Separation of americium (Am), a critical actinide element in the nuclear fuel cycle, from lanthanides (Ln) is highly desirable for minimizing the long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear waste, yet it is extremely challenging given the chemical similarity between trivalent Am(III) and Ln(III). Selective oxidation of Am(III) to a higher oxidation state (OS) could facilitate this separation, but so far, it is far from satisfactory for practical application as a result of the unstable nature of Am in a high OS. Herein, we find a novel strategy to generate stable pentavalent Am (Am(V)) through coordination of Am(III) with a diglycolamide ligand and oxidation with Bi(V) species in the presence of an organic solvent. This strategy leads to efficient stabilization of Am(V) and an extraordinarily high separation factor (10