SUMMARY

The history, theoretical fundamentals, and practical application of thermochromatography are briefly reviewed. The main advantages of the method the speed and selectivity of chemical separation of complex mixtures of short-lived radionuclides, including transactinide ones are analyzed. Prospects of thermochromatography in production of radionuclides widely used in science and technology are considered on the basis of the performed systematic investigations of the thermochromatographic behavior of volatile compounds of the elements of the Periodic Table.

1. INTRODUCTION

The increasing interest in studying short-lived radionuclides, including transactinide ones, in the early 1960 s created a demand for improved or newly created methods allowing fast and highly selective separation of various radioelements.

The analysis of the trends in development of analytical and radiochemical methods showed that the simplest and most effective way to satisfy this demand was through high-temperature gas chemistry. The already gained experience in using a variety of gas chromatography versions logically led to the choice of thermochromatography (TC), i.e. stationary non-isothermal gas-solid chromatography based on thermal variation of the interaction between the volatile radioactive species (atoms or molecules) and the adsorbent. In this method a negative temperature gradient is produced in the direction of the carrier gas flow or, alternatively, in vacuum. It is, consequently, this temperature gradient, which retards the transport of species in the column. If the slowing down is...