Synthesis of enriched ¹⁰B boric acid of nuclear grade

Abstract

An economic and effective method of preparing enriched ¹⁰B boric acid was established by chemical reaction of enriched ¹⁰BF₃ and CaCO₃. A process of boron trifluoride reacting with water was investigated under certain conditions. Calcium carbonate was selected to counteract hydrofluoric acid followed on. Some key operation factors were investigated, such as temperature, reaction time and the ratio of CaCO₃ to ¹⁰BF₃. The results showed that the yield of enriched ¹⁰B boric acid could reach 97.2% and the purity was up to 94.1% under the following conditions: the temperature was 50–60 °C, the reaction time was 28 h and the ratio of CaCO₃ to ¹⁰BF₃ was 4. In addition, after recrystallization and titration analysis, the purity of the product could reach over 99.2% from 94.1%.

Keywords

enriched ¹⁰B boric acid / boron trifluoride / calcium carbonate / fluoboric acid / hydrogen fluoride

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