ABSTRACT
Recent attention has been given to a reexamination of results from the early Viking missions to Mars that suggested the presence of one or more strong oxidants in Martian soil. Since Fe is one of the main constituents of the Martian surface and Fe(VI) is known to be a highly reactive, strong oxidant, we have made XANES and EXAFS measurements of Fe(II), Fe(III), Fe(IV), and Fe(VI) in solid and solution forms. Results from these studies indicate a preedge XANES feature from Fe(VI) samples similar to that commonly seen from Cr(VI) samples. Results of first shell analysis indicate a linear relationship between the Fe-O bondlength and Fe valence state.
ABSTRACT
Hafnium and zirconium are not retained on the strongly acidic cation-exchange resin Dowex 50 from a mixture consisting of methanol and 12M nitric acid (19:1) which is 0.1M in trioctylphosphine oxide. On the other hand most other elements investigated are strongly adsorbed on the resin from this medium so that they are readily separated from hafnium and zirconium. These elements include titanium, rare earths, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, iron, cobalt, manganese and zinc. This separation technique has been found to be suitable for the separation of tracer and milligram amounts of hafnium and zirconium from accompanying metal ions. If in place of methanol other organic solvents such as acetone, tetrahydrofuran and methyl glycol are used the selectivity of the separation of zirconium and hafnium from the other elements is decreased. The same effect is observed when hydrochloric acid is used in the mixtures instead of nitric acid.
