Extractive chromatographic separation and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric determination of trace impurities in high purity europium oxide

An easily applicable separation method has been developed for the accurate and simultaneous determination of trace amounts of Al, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in high purity europium oxide by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) combined with extraction chromatography. Spectral interferences and europium matrix effects were examined. The chromatographic separation procedure was carried out with a di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP)-Levextrel resin as the stationary phase, which retained the matrix europium, and dilute nitric acid as the mobile phase, which eluted the analyte of interest. The effect of nitric acid concentration on the adsorption of europium and the analyte ions on the resin, the eluting behaviour of these elements on the chromatographic column, and the capacity of the resin for europium oxide were investigated. The quantitative limits for determination (10 sigma), based on a 0.5-g amount of europium oxide, are between 0.36 microg/g for Mn and 6.4 microg/g for Pb. The method was applied to two spiked samples and a high purity europium oxide certified reference material. Results were obtained for recoveries of 93.2-112% and precision of 4-13%, expressed as the relative standard deviation and excellent agreement with the certified value with a relative error of <4%.