High-throughput sequential injection method for simultaneous determination of plutonium and neptunium in environmental solids using macroporous anion-exchange chromatography, followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection

This paper reports an automated analytical method for rapid and simultaneous determination of plutonium and neptunium in soil, sediment, and seaweed, with detection via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A chromatographic column packed with a macroporous anion exchanger (AG MP-1 M) was incorporated in a sequential injection (SI) system for the efficient retrieval of plutonium, along with neptunium, from matrix elements and potential interfering nuclides. The sorption and elution behavior of plutonium and neptunium onto AG MP-1 M resin was compared with a commonly utilized AG 1-gel-type anion exchanger. Experimental results reveal that the pore structure of the anion exchanger plays a pivotal role in ensuring similar separation behavior of plutonium and neptunium along the separation protocol. It is proven that plutonium-242 ((242)Pu) performs well as a tracer for monitoring the chemical yield of neptunium when using AG MP-1 M resin, whereby the difficulties in obtaining a reliable and practicable isotopic neptunium tracer are overcome. An important asset of the SI setup is the feasibility of processing up to 100 g of solid substrates using a small-sized (ca. 2 mL) column with chemical yields of neptunium and plutonium being ≥79%. Analytical results of three certified/standard reference materials and two solid samples from intercomparison exercises are in good agreement with the reference values at the 0.05 significance level. The overall on-column separation can be completed within 3.5 h for 10 g of soil samples. Most importantly, the anion-exchange mini-column suffices to be reused up to 10-fold with satisfactory chemical yields (>70%), as demanded in environmental monitoring and emergency scenarios, making the proposed automated assembly well-suited for unattended and high-throughput analysis.