Methods and systems for separation and concentration of radium utilizing manganese oxide

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for separation and / or concentration of radium. In an example, a chromatography resin may be utilized to separate radium from a volume, and then the radium may be eluted from the resin with a chelating agent. The resulting eluent volume may then be further concentrated into a smaller volume using a solid oxidant resin (such as MnO2) in a packed column. Once eluted from the MnO2, the resulting eluent volume may have a volume orders of magnitude lower than the original radium volume. In other examples as disclosed, the chelated radium eluent volume may be allowed to generate actinium, a daughter isotope of radium. The aged volume may then be concentrated using the MnO2.