Investigation of laser stimulation of chemical extraction at the interface between two media

An experimental investigation was made of the effect of laser radiation on the extraction process at the interface between two liquids in reactions involving uranium extraction from an aqueous phase by neutral organic extractants, organic acids, and organic bases. It was found that on exposure of the interface between the two phases to resonance laser radiation, a shift of the extraction equilibrium toward increasing extraction from the aqueous to the organic solution was observed only in extraction processes involving neutral organic compounds when the interaction in the complex compound was of thp coordination type. An atmospheric-pressure pulsed CO₂ laser was used in the experiments.