Capillary
electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (CE-ICP-MS)
was used to determine the stability constants of the actinides Am(III),
Th(IV), Np(V), and U(VI) at an ionic strength of I = 0.3 M. The obtained stability constants were extrapolated to zero
ionic strength by means of the Davies equation. For both U(VI) and
Am(III), three consecutive acetate complexes with log(β1
0) = 3.01 ± 0.12, log(β2
0) = 5.27 ± 0.07, log(β3
0)
= 6.82 ± 0.09, and log(β1
0) = 3.70
± 0.09, log(β2
0) = 5.35 ± 0.08,
log(β3
0) = 6.45 ± 0.09, respectively,
could be identified. For Np(V), there was just one acetate complex,
with log(β1
0) = 1.56 ± 0.03. In the
case of Th(IV), five different complex species could be determined:
log(β1
0) = 4.73 ± 0.16, log(β2
0) = 8.92 ± 0.09, log(β3
0) = 12.16 ± 0.11, log(β4
0) = 12.96 ± 0.87, and log(β5
0) =
14.39 ± 0.16. The actinides were selected with regard to their
most stable oxidation state in aqueous solution so that four different
oxidation states from +III to +VI could be investigated. A great benefit
of CE-ICP-MS is the opportunity to measure at significantly lower
concentrations compared to the available literature, allowing the
study of actinide complexation in environmentally relevant concentration
ranges. Furthermore, it is possible to analyze all four actinides
simultaneously in one and the same sample.