Background
Rare Earth Element (REE) minerals often come with a hidden challenge: naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). During processing, radionuclides like thorium can build up in products, waste streams, or side flows. This isn’t just a waste-handling issue—thorium is a valuable resource with potential uses in nuclear medicine, especially as a source material for alpha-emitting radionuclides.
One promising route is solvent extraction; a well-established separation method already used in industry. Thorium separation from REE-containing solutions has been studied, but the process needs to be optimized for different ore compositions and industrial streams. This project gives you the chance to explore how thorium behaves in complex chemical environments, and how to recover it efficiently.
Your Tasks
- Investigate solvent extraction mechanisms for thorium in REE-rich solutions.
- Optimize extraction efficiency and study how thorium speciation changes under different conditions.
- Explore selectivity in systems with varying ore/process compositions.
- Apply your findings to strategies for thorium removal and recovery from real industrial process streams.
What you’ll gain
- A solid understanding of thorium separation chemistry and speciation.
- Hands-on experience working with radioactive materials and solvent extraction techniques.
- Insight into how separation science connects to industrial applications and nuclear medicine.
Who is this for?
If you’re interested in radiochemistry, hydrometallurgy, or applied separation science—and you want to work at the interface of fundamental chemistry and industrial process development—this project could be a great fit.
Location
Institute for Energy Technology, Tracer Technology department.
Kontaktperson:
Dep. Head Georgios Kalantzopoulos