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RUBIDIUM
Natural Abundance, Stable Isobars Rb85, 72.15%, Sr87 aRb87, 27.85% Both rubidium chloride and rubidium iodide have been used satisfactorily in the separation of t isotopes of rubidium but RbCl is preferred. The usual charge consists of 100 g RbCl in a style S-16 stainless steel charge bottle. Rubidium chloride is purchased from a commercial vendor and outgassed under vacuum before being used as charge material. Due to the high cost of this material, recovery of unresolved charge material is made at the completion of the separation. Calutron source, receiver, and liner parts are washed with dilute hydrochloric acid. The wash solution is filtered to remove any insoluble material and the residue is washed and discarded. After filtering, the wash solution is saturated with hydrogen sulfide and filtered to remove the insoluble sulfides, which are washed and discarded. The solution made basic with ammonium hydroxide, again saturated with hydrogen sulfide, and filtered. The resulting insoluble sulfides are washed and discarded. The solution is acidified with hydrochloric acid and boiled to agglomerate sulfur, which is removed by filtration. Upon evaporating the solution to dryness, a mixture of RbCl and ammonium chloride is obtained. Heating the mixed salts to 350ºC under vacuum removes ammonium chloride and leaves anhydrous RbCl ready to be reused as charge material. Industrially, rubidium and its compounds have negligible toxic effects but the hydroxide is quite caustic and will cause skin burns. The metal is pyrophoric. Safety precautions for the handling of rubidium compounds include the use of safety glasses or face shields, rubber gloves, and respirators, if dusting is encountered. aRb87 is radioactive with a half-life of 5 × 1010 years. |
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