Procedure for determining the number of thermal diffusion columns in square cascade for separation of Ne stable isotopes

The thermal diffusion column represents one method of separating stable isotopes.This method is advantageous for smallscale operations because of the simplicity of the apparatus and small inventory,especially in gas-phase operations.Consequently,it has attracted attention for its applicability in tritium and noble gas separation systems.In this study,the R cascade was used to design and determine the number of columns.A square cascade was adopted for the final design because of its flexibility,and calculations were performed to separate 20Ne and 22Ne isotopes.All the R cascades that enriched the Ne isotopes by more than 99%were investigated,the number of columns was determined,and the square cascade parameters were optimized using the specified columns.Additionally,a calculation code“RSQ_CASCADE”was developed.A unit separation factor of three was considered,and the number of studied stages ranged from 10 to 20.The results showed that the column separation power,relative total flow rate,and required number of columns were linearly related to the number of stages.The separation power and relative total flow decreased and the number of columns increased as the stage number increased.Therefore,a cascade of 85 columns is recommended to separate the stable Ne isotopes.These calculations yielded a 17-stage square cascade with five columns in each stage.By changing the stage cut,feed point,and cascade feed flow rate,the best parameters for the square cascade were determined according to the cascade and column separation powers.As the column separation power had a maximum value in cascade feed 50,it was selected for separating Ne isotopes.

Improved FRACS parameterizations for cross sections of isotopes near the proton drip line in projectile fragmentation reactions

The FRACS parameterizations,labeled as FRACS-C,have been improved in order to predict the presence of isotopes near the proton drip line produced in projectile fragmentation reactions.By investigating the cross sections for proton-rich isotopes in a series of reactions with energies ranging from intermediate to relativistic,it is shown that the FRACS-C parameterizations can predict isotopes near the proton drip line considerably well.The FRACS-C parameterizations are suggested to serve as an effective tool for predicting the presence of proton-rich isotopes with large asymmetry in a projectile fragmentation reaction.Different reactions have been investigated to check these results.

Theoretical study on isotope separation of an ytterbium atomic beam by laser deflection

Isotope separation by laser deflecting an atomic beam is analyzed theoretically. Interacting with a tilted one- dimensional optical molasses, an ytterbium atomic beam is split into multi-beams with different isotopes like 172yb, Jv3yb, and J74yb. By using the numerical calculation, the dependences of the splitting angle on the molasses laser intensity and detuning are studied, and the optimal parameters for the isotope separation are also investigated. Furthermore, the isotope separation efficiency and purity are estimated. Finally a new scheme for the efficient isotope separation is proposed. These findings will give a guideline for simply obtaining pure isotopes of various elements.

Computational screening and design of nanoporous membranes for efficient carbon isotope separation

Stable isotopes have been routinely used in chemical sciences,medical treatment and agricultural research.Conventional technologies to produce high-purity isotopes entail lengthy separation processes that often suffer from low selectivity and poor energy efficiency.Recent advances in nanoporous materials open up new opportunities for more efficient isotope enrichment and separation as the pore size and local chemical environment of such materials can be engineered with atomic precision.In this work,we demonstrate the unique capability of nanoporous membranes for the separation of stable carbon isotopes by computational screening a materials database consisting of 12,478 computation-ready,experimental metal-organic frameworks(MOFs).Nanoporous materials with the highest selectivity and membrane performance scores have been identified for separation of^(12)CH_4/^(13)CH_4 at the ambient condition(300 K).Analyzing the structural features and metal sites of the promising MOF candidates offers useful insights into membrane design to further improve the performance.An upper limit of the efficiency has been identified for the separation of^(12)CH_4/^(13)CH_4 with the existing MOFs and those variations by replacement of the metal sites.

Isotope hydrograph separation in alpine catchments:a review

Isotope hydrograph separation （IHS） is a basic tool in applied hydrology. Its application has expanded to surface water and groundwater interaction, and eco-hydrological processes from runoff generation processes. This paper reviews the progress made in IHS for alpine catchments, with emphasis on its significance in reflecting the impact of global change on water resources. Also, the principle of IHS and its uncertainties are explained in detail. The mechanism of variation of stable isotopes in snow-melt water is discussed, and then methods are presented to improve the separation during snow-melt such as volume weighted average method （VWA）, current melt-water method （CMW） and runoff-corrected event water approach （RunCE）, with their advantages and disadvantages explained. New approaches may extend the applications of IllS, for example, large basin studies combined with GIS, and develop new theories of runoff generation combined with other pararneters such as deuterium excess and DOC.

A Simple and Fast Separation Method of Fe Employing Extraction Resin for Isotope Ratio Determination by Multicollector ICP-MS

A new, simple and fast separation method for Fe using an extraction chromatographic resin, Aliquat 336 (commercially available as TEVA resin) has been developed. A one milliliter column containing 0.33 mL TEVA resin on 0.67 mL CG-71C was used.Iron was adsorbed with 6mol·L-1 HCl + H2O2 on TEVA resin, and recovered with 2 mol·L-1HNO3. The recovery yield and total blank were 93.5 ± 6.5% and 6 ng, respectively. Theseparation method is simple, and takes < 2 hours. For evaluation of the Fe separation, Fe isotope ratios were measured by a double-spike method employing multicollector inductively coupled plasma source mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) with repeatability of 0.06‰ (SD) for the standard solution and ~0.05‰ for the silicate samples. Therefore, the column chemistry developed in this study is a viable option for Fe isotope ratio measurement by MC-ICP-MS.

End-Member Selection in Two-Component Isotope-Based Hydrograph Separation

The science that underpins our knowledge and understanding of Isotope-Based Hydrograph separation (IHS) has gained grounds, over the last few decades, in the identification of streamflow sources. However, challenges still exist in identifying appropriate tracers and the right combination of end-members for the IHS process. In a two-component IHS analysis, the application of the dual isotopes tracers, δ18O and (or) δ2H, is regarded as the simplest method. We undertook an IHS study within a nested system of eight Prairie watersheds located in South central Manitoba, Canada. The work evaluated about 17,000 results emanating from the application of a combination of two potential tracers (δ18O and δ2H) and eight each of potential “old” and “new” water end-members in a two-component IHS process. The outcome showed occurrences of many mathematically possible but hydrologically unacceptable IHS results. The observation was particularly predominant within relatively larger perennial sub-catchments of the watershed. It is also shown that inter-site sub-catchment isotopic end-member transferability is possible within watersheds of similar physio-hydrographic characteristics. We suggest that a careful evaluation of the physio-hydrographic characteristics of catchments be considered in IHS studies in addition to the recommended guidelines in the selection of tracers and end-members.

Separation of Molybdenum Isotopes at Supercritical Fluid Extraction with Carbon Dioxide in a Vertical Gradient Field of Temperatures

Separation of molybdenum isotope complexes by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with carbon dioxide was studied experimentally. The extraction of molybdenum isotope complexes was carried out in the updated extraction chamber (reactor) of the SFE-U installation, which provided an initial pressure of P ≤ 20 MPa at constant temperatures of the upper T1 = 35&deg;C and bottom T2 = 45&deg;C flanges. The device, through which the eluent was discharged, involved a set of four thin tubes of different lengths located inside the reactor. The axes of the tubes and the reactor are parallel and the tubes are equally spaced circumferentially inside the reactor. The extract was removed from each tube through channels isolated from each other and located in the bottom flange with cylindrical expansion, in which several layers of filter paper were placed. After passing through the filters the extract entered a restrictor designed to remove the eluent from the reactor. The initial pressure of carbon dioxide and the holding time of the extract were specified in the experiments. The level of the eluent sampling was set by the lengths of the tubes depending on the reactor height. A method of producing molybdenum complexes was described. It was experimentally shown that at an initial pressure of 20 MPa and a given holding time a difference from the natural content of Mo isotopes for given heights of extract sampling depending on the reactor height was observed in extracts removed through filters. The ranges of deviation of the content of molybdenum isotopes in extracts from natural one were determined.

Progress on the Use of Stable Isotope Techniques in Catchment Hydrograph Separation: A Review

Hydrograph separation is a fundamental catchment descriptor,revealing information about sources of water in runoff generation processes. The water isotopes are ideal tracers in studying hydrological processes since the isotope fractionation produces a natural labeling effect within the hydrologic cycle. The water isotope technique has become one of effective means for investigating complex hydrologic system on a catchment scale. This paper reviews the progress on the use of stable water isotope techniques in catchment hydrograph separation in last decades. Also,the isotope mixing model for hydrograph separation and its uncertainties are explained in detail. In future research,there are three hot issues in the use of isotopic hydrograph separation（ IHS） ： integrating new approaches into IHS,calibration and verification of IHS model and IHS application in large river basins.

Production and Separation of the Medical Isotopes in IMP

Radioisotopes are widely used for diagnostics,therapy of various diseases,and research in nuclear medicine.But the all medical isotopes used in the hospital of China were bought from overseas.Hence,we need develope the corresponding technologies about the production and separation of the radioisotopes.

Chemical Selectivity of Laser Ion Source for on-Line Mass Separator

Thulium(Tm)atoms are resonantly ionized in a hot tube by stepwise excitations us-ing three dye lasers pumped by a series of copper vapor pulsed at a 10 kHz rate.The chemicalselectivity of the laser ion source is measured as a function of temperature of the tubes made ofTa,Nb-Zr and TaC.The chemical selectivity rises from 50 to 10000 with decreasing tube temp-erature and strongly depends on the tube material.A chemical selectivity of about 10000 withhigh efficiencies is obtained with the Nb-Zr and TaC tubes.Such a laser ion source can be usedin on-line mass separator to obtain isobarically pure ion beams.

Fractionation mechanism of stable isotope in evaporating water body

Under Rayleigh equilibrium condition, stable isotopic ratio in residual water increases with the decrease of the residual water proportion f exponentially, and the fractionation rate of stable isotopes is inversely proportional to temperature. However, under kinetic evaporation condition, the fi＇actionation of stable isotopes is not only related to the phase temperature but also influenced by the atmospheric humidity and the mass exchange between liquid and vapor phases. The ratio 6 in residual water will not change with f after undergoing evaporation of a long time for great relative humidity. The rate that the evaporating water body reaches isotopic steady state is mainly dependent on the relative humidity in atmosphere. The analysis shows that the actual mean linear variety rates, about -30.0, of the δ^18O in residual water versus the residual water proportion at Nagqu and Amdo stations are consistent with the simulated process under temperature of 20℃ and relative humidity of 50%. The distillation line simulated under Rayleigh equilibrium condition is analogous to the global meteoric water line （MWL） as the temperature is about 20℃. Under non-equilibrium condition, the slope and constant values of distillation line are directly proportional to temperature and relative humidity. According to the basic data, the simulated distillation line is very consistent with the actual distillation line of Qinghai Lake.

Source and nature of ore-forming fluids of the Edmond hydrothermal field,Central Indian Ridge:evidence from He-Ar isotope composition and fluid inclusion study

To understand the source and nature of the ore-forming fluids of the Edmond hydrothermal field on the Central Indian Ridge, we studied the He-Ar isotope composition and fluid inclusions of the hydrothermal precipitates.Our results show that the sulfide samples contain noble gases He, Ne, Kr, and Xe with their abundances in between those of air-saturated water（ASW） and mid-ocean ridge basalt（MORB）. The ^3He/^4He ratio varies from1.3 to 8.7 Ra（n=10, average： 5.1 Ra）, whereas the ^40Ar/^36Ar ratio is from 285.3 to 314.7（n=10, average： 294.8）. These results suggest that the He was derived from a mixture of MORB with variable amounts of seawater, but the Ar in the ore-forming fluids trapped in the sulfides is predominantly derived from seawater. The fluid inclusions of barite have a wide range of homogenization temperatures and salinities varying from 163℃ to 260℃ and 2.6 wt%to 8.5 wt% Na Cl equiv., respectively. It is suggested that the ore-forming fluids were produced by phase separation, which agreed with the present-day vent fluid study.

The steady-state and dynamic simulation of cascade distillation system for the production of oxygen-18 isotope from water

Accurate simulation of water distillation system for oxygen-18(18O) isotope separation is necessary to guide industrial practice, since both deuterium(D) and oxygen-18 isotope get enriched and interfere with each other. In the present work, steady-state and dynamic distillation models are established based on a classic method and a cascade distillation system with 5 towers is introduced to test the models. The theoretical expressions of separation factor αH/Dfor protium/deuterium and separation factor α^(16)O/^(18) O.for oxygen-16/oxygen-18 were derived,with the existence of deuterium and oxygen-18, respectively. The results of the steady-state simulation by the classical method proposed in the present work agreed well with the results of the lumping method. The dynamic process could be divided into 5 stages. Impressively, a peak value of product withdraw was observed before the final steady state, which was resulted from the change of ^(16)O/^(18) O separation factor and isotope distribution. An interesting low concentration zone in the towers of T2–T5 existed at the beginning of the dynamic process and it required industrial evidence.

Preparation of Ti-Ni Porous Alloys and Its Hydrogen Isotope Effects

Ti-Ni porous alloy was made from titanium and nickel powder mixture in equiatomic composition by combustion synthesis technique (self-propagation high temperature synthesis). The result analyzed by SEM and XRD shows that the alloy possesses high porosity (50%～70%), and mainly consists of TiNi phase as well as rare Ti_2Ni and TiNi_3 transition phase. Then it was activated, cracked and used as sorbent for hydrogen isotope separation. Through experiment investigation, it was discovered that the alloy is able to absorb hydrogen in very large quantities in the lattice thereof, but deuterium only very slightly or not at all, at temperatures up to 623 K, especially at temperatures from about 323 to 423 K. According to this characteristic, the Ti-Ni porous alloys may replace noble metal palladium(Pd) as used for hydrogen isotope separation and purification. Study illustrated that the technology would have a promising engineering application, such as being used for reprocessing Tokamak exhaust gases and producing high purity deuterium.

Large-scale computational screening of metal–organic frameworks for D_(2)/H_(2) separation

Deuterium(D_(2)) is one of the important fuel sources that power nuclear fusion reactors. The existing D_(2)/H_(2) separation technologies that obtain high-purity D_(2) are cost-intensive. Recent research has shown that metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) are of good potential for D_(2)/H_(2) separation application. In this work, a high-throughput computational screening of 12020 computation-ready experimental MOFs is carried out to determine the best MOFs for hydrogen isotope separation application. Meanwhile, the detailed structure-performance correlation is systematically investigated with the aid of machine learning. The results indicate that the ideal D_(2)/H_(2) adsorption selectivity calculated based on Henry coefficient is strongly correlated with the 1/ΔAD feature descriptor;that is, inverse of the adsorbility difference of the two adsorbates. Meanwhile, the machine learning(ML) results show that the prediction accuracy of all the four ML methods is significantly improved after the addition of this feature descriptor. In addition, the ML results based on extreme gradient boosting model also revealed that the 1/ΔAD descriptor has the highest relative importance compared to other commonly-used descriptors. To further explore the effect of hydrogen isotope separation in binary mixture, 1548 MOFs with ideal adsorption selectivity greater than 1.5 are simulated at equimolar conditions. The structure-performance relationship shows that high adsorption selectivity MOFs generally have smaller pore size(0.3-0.5 nm) and lower surface area. Among the top 200 performers, the materials mainly have the sql, pcu, cds, hxl, and ins topologies.Finally, three MOFs with high D_(2)/H_(2) selectivity and good D_(2) uptake are identified as the best candidates,of all which had one-dimensional channel pore. The findings obtained in this work may be helpful for the identification of potentially promising candidates for hydrogen isotope separation.

Characteristics of Stable Isotopes in an Inland Lake and Their Implications for Water Management in Northwestern China

Bosten Lake is the largest inland freshwater lake in China, functioning as a critical control and allocation facility for agricultural, industrial, ecological and social development in southern Xinjiang in northwestern China. The distribution of stable isotopes, spatial and temporal variations of δ18O, and hydrograph separation of Bosten Lake and its principal recharge rivers—the Kaidu River and the Huangshuigou River—were analyzed using isotope composition. Hydrograph separation indicated that Bosten lake water comprised four components as follows: river runoff, groundwater, agricultural and industrial drainage, and local precipitation. Their contributions were 31%, 35%, 25%, and 9%, respectively. Irrigation drainage and industrial wastewater, enriched high TDS, were the main factors affecting the water quality of Bosten Lake. The δ18O of lake water, which was significantly reduced compared with river water, remained below the local meteoric water line (LMWL), indicating strong evaporation in the lake, especially during summer. The spatial and temporal distribution of δ18O exhibited slow water circulation in the lake. Both the Kaidu River and the Huangshuigou River depend on alpine precipitation and glacier snow, especially the Kaidu River, where ice-snow-melt water accounts for 43% of the river runoff. These rivers are sensitive to climate change. The Bosten Lake inflows would be reduced by the decrease in river runoff and groundwater under future climate change. To improve water quality and reduce evaporative loss, the amount of wastewater should be strictly restricted by local government, and water diversions from Bosten Lake should be concentrated between May and September.

Microfluidic Analytical System with On-Line Luminol Chemiluminescence Detection Based on Annular Flow of Phase Separation Multiphase Flow

Microfluidic analytical system was developed based on annular flow of phase separation multiphase flow with a ternary water-hydrophilic/hydrophobic organic solvent solution. The analytical system was combined with on-line luminol chemiluminescence detection for catechin analysis. The water (10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.3)-acetonitrile-ethyl acetate mixed solution (3:8:4, volume ratio) containing 60 μM luminol and 2 mM hydrogen peroxide as a carrier was fed into the capillary tube (open-tubular fused-silica, 75 μm inner diameter, 110 cm effective length) at a flow rate of 1.0 μL·min-1. The carrier solution showed stable chemiluminescence as a baseline on the flow chart. Eight catechins were detected as negative peaks for their antioxidant potential with different detection times. The system was applied to analyze the amounts of catechin in commercially available green tea beverages.

地质环境中生物标志物 GDGTs 分析技术研究进展

甘油二烷基甘油四醚脂(GDGTs)是一类来自于微生物细胞膜脂的新兴生物标志物,广泛存在于海洋、湖泊、土壤、泥炭等环境。在活体细胞中,GDGTs通常以完整极性膜脂(IPL-GDGTs)的形式存在,而在地质环境中主要以脱去极性头基的核心脂(CL-GDGTs)的形式存在。CL-GDGTs结构稳定、不易降解,并且对环境变化响应敏感,因此被认为是重建古气候-古环境变化的有力工具。GDGTs结构复杂、种类多样,在环境中的含量通常较低且常与其他化合物共存,因此分析难度较高,现有技术和方法在其分离、纯化、定量等方面仍然面临挑战。本文总结了近年来GDGTs在分析技术方面的研究进展,概述了GDGTs的分类与结构,对环境中IPL-GDGTs和CL-GDGTs的分离、纯化等方法进行总结和比较,其中CL-GDGTs可选择多种提取方法,而极性较强、热稳定性较差的IPL-GDGTs应尽量选取Bligh-Dyer提取法。普通的分离、纯化通常采用柱层析法,而涉及GDGTs单体分离时,一般采用制备液相色谱法。液相色谱-质谱、核磁共振波谱、气相色谱-同位素比值质谱是GDGTs含量测定、结构鉴定、同位素分析的主要分析手段。本文评述了现有方法的特点和不足,并在此基础上,提出了GDGTs分析技术的发展方向,以期为地质环境中GDGTs的分析研究提供启示和参考。