Application of gel electrophoretic techniques to the investigation of actinide-humic interactions in soils

• Published in: Radiochimica acta Vol. 88; no. 9; pp. 775 - 778
• Main Authors: Graham, M.C., Vinogradoff, S.I., Abbott, A., Farmer, J.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter Oldenbourg 01.09.2000
• ISSN: 0033-8230; 2193-3405
• DOI: 10.1524/ract.2000.88.9-11.775

Humic material from several soils was fractionated using both gel chromatographic and gel electrophoretic techniques. The distribution of uranium amongst fractions obtained by both methods was determined using ICP-MS. Humic material isolated from electrophoretic fractions was characterised using FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopy, base titration, Sephadex G200 size fractionation and CHN elemental analysis. Both size and chemical separation occurred during electrophoretic fractionation with the smaller, more hydrophilic molecules being more electrophoretically mobile. The gel chromatographic and gel electrophoretic studies showed that the association of U in soils was skewed towards the larger humic molecules but that some association with certain smaller humic molecules warrants further work to characterise the behaviour of these complexes under varying environmental conditions.