Solvent extraction study on the hydrolysis of tracer concentrations of bismuth(III) in perchlorate and nitrate solutions.

The backward solvent extraction with dithizone-carbon tetrachloride solutions was used to examine the chemical species of Bi(III). A tracer concentration of Bi(III) (<10−7 mol dm−3) was found to exist in the form of Bi3+, Bi(OH)2+, Bi(OH)2+, and Bi(OH)3 in 1.0 mol dm−3 (H,Na)ClO4, and Bi(NO3)n3−n, Bi(OH)(NO3)n2−n, Bi(OH)2(NO3)n1−n, and Bi(OH)3(NO3)nn− in 1.0 mol dm−3 (H,Na)NO3 solutions depending on the acidity of the solutions. The constants of successive hydrolysis, β1, β2, and β3, were calculated by using the distribution data. The resulting logβ1, logβ2, and logβ3 values were 12.0, 22.9, and 33.9 for 1.0 mol dm−3 (H,Na)ClO4 solution, and 11.9, 22.7, and 33.2 for 1.0 mol dm−3 (H,Na)NO3 solution, respectively. The chemical composition of the extracted species was most probably Bi(HDz)3.