Separation of trivalent actinides (An(III)) and lanthanides (Ln(III)) is a pivotal step with respect to the treatment of nuclear waste based on the partitioning and transmutation (P&T) strategy, which is also extraordinarily challenging due to their similar coordination chemistry. The diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) ligand has been demonstrated to possess selective separation ability toward An(III) over Ln(III) in aqueous media. Nevertheless, the extracted complexes of An(III)/Ln(III) with DTPA, and the origin of selectivity for An(III) are still not well deciphered. In this work, from t...
