The development of new and more effective extractants than those currently used is therefore an important issue for the mining of uranium. In particular, access to specific chelating systems with high affinity for uranium with selective properties in regards to competitor’s ions and less susceptible to hydrolysis remains a challenge.
Recently, new bifunctional molecules amio-phosphine oxide type has shown their potential for the extraction of uranyl in sulfuric media with excellent properties in terms of affinity and selectivity for the metal.
The objective of this postdoctoral fellowship will be to optimize this family of ligands, with the development of concise and efficient routes for their chemical and suitable for the preparation of large quantities of extractant for further study the optimization of the process.