Rapid determination of molar ratios in binary systems by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

The magnetic characteristics of barium ferrite, a compound widely used for magnetic materials, depend on the molar ratio of iron(III) oxide to barium oxide. On account of this fact, activation analysis using 14 MeV neutrons was applied for the rapid and non-destructive determination of the molar ratio of iron(III) oxide to barium oxide in barium ferrite. Iron was detected as⁵⁶Mn produced from the⁵⁶Fe(n, p)⁵⁶Mn reaction, and barium as^137mBa originating from the¹³⁸Ba(n, 2n)^137mBa reaction. A linear relation was obtained between the ratio of counts of⁵⁶Mn and^137mBa and the molar ratio of iron(III) oxide to barium oxide; the corrected gradient of the experimental calibration curve, obtained with^137mBa internal standard, agreed well with the calculated value. The molar ratios of iron(III) oxide to barium oxide obtained by activation analysis and by chemical analysis were in good agreement.     

Rapid determination of selenium in erythrocytes by neutron activation analysis

The use of ultrafiltration prior to the determination of selenium via the short-lived activation product,^77mSe, provided a simple and rapid method for the determination of this element in erythrocytes. An associated reduction in analytical error made this procedure acceptable for monitoring small changes in erythrocyte selenium concentrations.     

Rapid determination of copper in plants by neutron activation analysis

A rapid and simple neutron-activation analysis method has been developed for the determination of copper in plant leaves. Irradiated samples are dissolved in a mixture of fuming nitric acid, 70% perchloric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid in the presence of copper carrier solution. The copper in the resulting solution is extracted as copper cupferronate into chloroform and back-extracted into concentrated ammonia solution. The copper is precipitated as sulphide with 3% aqueous thioacetanude solution and the precipitate is dissolved in nitric acid. The induced activity of copper-64 in the resulting solution is counted with a 400-channel analyser. The photopeak of the annihilation energy of copper-64 at 0.51 MeV is compared with that of a copper standard processed in the same manner. After counting, the chemical yield of the separated copper is found by re-irradiating aliquots of the copper nitrate solution and comparing the induced activity of coppcr-66 at 1.04 MeV with that of another standard processed in a similar manner. The time required to complete the analysis, including the second irradiation and all radioactivity measurements, is about 25 min. The accuracy of the method was checked by analysing a biological standard of known copper content. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of copper in the leaves of 10 different plants (copper content 4-30 ppm).     

Sulfur determination in coal by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

A procedure involving the irradiation of coal samples with 14 MeV neutrons and subsequent gamma-ray spectrometry of the irradiated sample for the estimation of solfur in coal, has been outlined. The samples were irradiated with 14MeV neutrons from a Cockroft-Walton type generator for one minute and then subjected to gamma-ray spectrometry for another minute using an automated transfer cyclic system. Ten such cycles were repeated for accumulating events under the 2130 keV gamma ray photopeak belonging to³⁴P (T=12.4 s) produced by the³⁴S(n, p)³⁴P reaction for assessing the lower level of detection, LLD, of Sulfur. Interferences due to the presence of other elements in coal were also determined. Sulfur can be determined at LLD of 0.25% in coal provided a 5 g sample of the coal is irradiated with a neutron flux of 5·10⁹ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹ assayed with a gamma ray spectrometer having a large hollow core Ge(Li) detector and an anti-Compton shield.     

Rapid determination of selenium in human serum by neutron activation analysis

A simple and rapid method was developed for the determination of selenium in human serum using a pre-irradiation separation technique of ultrafiltration followed by neutron activation analysis via the short-lived activation product^77mSe. The method was validated using certified reference material.     

Rapid determination of halogens in milk by instrumental neutron activation analysis

The absolute concentrations of iodine, bromine and chlorine in milk, have been determined by epithermal neutron activation followed by high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. Two kinds of milk commonly consumed in Israel have been investigated. The concentration of iodine, bromine and chlorine were found to be 0.18–0.30 g/ml, 2.02–2.85 g/ml and 0.65 mg/ml, respectively. The method is fast, selective, accurate and highly sensitive.     

Silicon determination in mine flue-dust by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

The Si-contents of flue-dust and sedimented dust from Czechoslovak mines were determined by instrumental activation analysis with 14 MeV neutrons using a flux of 10⁷ cm⁻²·s⁻¹. The amounts determined range from 3 to 30 mg.     

The determination of silicon in steel by 14-mev neutron activation analysis

A fast (2–5 min) non-destructive determination of silicon in steel by 14-MeV neutron activation is described. The 1.78-MeV ²⁸Al activity, induced by the reaction ²⁸Si(n,p)²⁸Al, is counted on a NaI(Tl) detector. An oxygen flux monitor is used to normalise to the same neutron flux.Two methods are described to correct for the ⁵⁶Mn activity (2.58 h), induced into the iron matrix via ⁵⁶Fe(n,p)⁵⁶Mn. Nuclear interferences of phosphorus and aluminium have been examined. Special attention has been paid to stainless steels. A sensitivity of 0.02 to 0.05% of silicon is obtained. The precision is 2 to 3% for steels containing above 1% silicon, and 7% for 0.1% of silicon.     

Precise,non-destructive determination of fluorine by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis

A procedure is described for the precise determination of fluorine in organic and metal-organic compounds by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis using the reaction: ¹⁹F(n,2n)¹⁸F (β +, t_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} = 110 min).A relative standard deviation of better than ±0.5% is achieved by irradiating samples and standard simultaneously. Uniform neutron exposures were ensured by rotating the samples during irradiation. Positron emitters of short half-life are allowed to decay before counting. In metal-organic compounds, Sc, Zn, Ga and Ag cause the most serious interference; for organic compounds the method is rapid, and specific for fluorine.     

The rapid determination of silver to silver plus copper ratios in coins using 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

A non-destructive method for the analysis of the silver to silver plus copper ratio in coins using 14 MeV neutron activation analysis has been studied. The mass of silver to the mass of copper is obtained by measuring the 0.511 MeV annihilation radiation emitted by⁶⁴Cu and¹⁰⁶Ag at two separate times after irradiation. A series of British silver three-penny pieces dated 1891–1941 were analysed and agreed well with the mint assay. The interference from the presence of zinc in some coins was investigated.     

Rapid determination of selenium in various marine species by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to determine selenium concentrations in several marine organisms including two certified reference materials /NRCC lobster hepatopancreas, NBS oyster tissue/ and one uncertified material /IAEA fish homogenate/. The⁷⁶Se/n, /^77mSe/T=17.4 s/ reaction was successfully employed to achieve an overall precision between 3–10% and detection limits between 0.3–0.6 g/g. The accuracy of the results, as compared to the certified values, was in excellent agreement with the NBS material and only slightly lower /9%/ for the NRCC material.     

The determination of oxygen and silicon in diamond by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

Techniques for the measurement of low levels of oxygen and silicon, using fast neutron activation analysis, have been developed and applied to high-quality diamonds. For oxygen, a limit of detection of approximately 5 μg has been established. Sources of error have been studied and eliminated, the ubiquitous occurrence of oxygen being the major problem. Within the accuracy of this work, the results obtained show no significant differences in the oxygen contents of diamonds of different types, or of diamonds from different sources. An oxygen content of 35±4 ppm has been established for high-quality colourless diamonds. For silicon, a limit of detection of 25 μg was established and the average silicon content of these diamonds was found to be less than 3 ppm. It is concluded that the oxygen in high-purity diamonds is present as CO₂ or H₂O and not in silicate inclusions.     

Simultaneous determination of chromium and silicon in steel by 14-mev neutron activation analysis

Chromium and silicon are determined simultaneously in steel by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis. The activities of ⁵²V(E_γ=1.43 MeV,T_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}=3.76 min) from ⁵²Cr(n,p)⁵²V and ²⁸Al (E_γ=1.78 MeV; T_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}=2.24 min) from ²⁸Si(n,p)²⁸Al are evaluated by mixed γ-ray spectrometry. The influence of manganese and phosphorus, the main interfering elements, is negligible for most stainless steels. The count rate should be limited, to avoid ⁵²V pulse pile-up effects interfering in the ²⁸Al energy region. Precisions in the 2-10% range are reached, depending on the concentrations, for a 10-min analysis time. Results for a series of steel samples are compared with industrial analyses.     

Blank evaluation in nitrogen determination in seed grains by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

In this work the term blank signifies total radiation of the sample analyzed except that the element to be determined (analyte) is absent. On the basis of the evaluation of the blank components (nuclear and spectral interferences, air-nitrogen between grains etc.), a semiempirical formula for calculating the nitrogen content in plant grain samples is proposed. The reliability of the results obtained with the use of this formula has been demonstrated for five sorts of seeds (rye, wheat, barley, broad bean and soybean) which have been analyzed by the Kjeldahl method and 14 MeV neutron activation analysis, respectively.     

Multielemental determination in water by neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) technique has been applied to a water sample to determine the elemental concentrations. The sample was irradiated at a neutron flux of 1.2·10¹² n·cm^–2·s^–1 for two different periods followed by counting at three different decay times, using two coaxial type high-resolution Ge(Li) detectors. The dominant elements detected in the water sample are Ca, Cl, Na, Mg, and K present in levels while Co, I, Mn, Sm, and Sb are present in smaller amounts approximately on the average 0.01 ppm. Only traces of other elements such as rare-earth elements, Ag, As, Ba, Cu, Cd, Fe, Sr, W, Zn, seem to be present in the water samples.     

Fast and precise determination of fluorine in geological samples by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

A fast and precise method of determining fluorine in geological matrices is proposed. The 0.20 MeV photopeak of¹⁹O, induced by the¹⁹F(n, p)¹⁹O reaction, was used for this assay. Neutron flux monitoring was achieved by adding an internal standard monitor (20 mg Ce) to each sample and counting the activity due to the 0.74 MeV photopeak of^139m Ce, produced in the¹⁴⁰Ce(n, 2n)^139m Ce reaction. This activity was considered to be proportional to the neutron flux during the sample irradiation. This method of fluorine determination was checked on two fluorine geological standards, mica and apatite, containing 1.50 and 2.90% fluorine, respectively. The sensitivity of the method, obviously depending upon the matrix composition, was 1.46 mg for the mica standard.     

Simultaneous determination of antimony and chlorine in synthetic rubbers by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

A nondestructive method for the analysis of Sb and Cl in synthetic rubbers by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis has been developed and evaluated by comparisons with microanalytical and thermal neutron activation analysis results. The method is most precise when a rubber with known amounts of Sb and Cl is used as a standard. Samples containing 0.07 to 2.5 wt.% Sb and 2.5 to 15.9 wt.% Cl have been analyzed and precision for the method is 10% or better. Antimony and Cl detection limits are 0.02 and 0.5 wt.% respectively. Agreement among the three methods is excellent; the thermal activation analysis method is more precise and simpler to apply if only Sb needs to be determined in a sample. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract DE-AC04-76-DP00789. A U.S. DOE facility.     

Simultaneous determination of silicon and phosphorus in cast iron by 14 MeV neutron activation analysis

A fast (10 min), non-destructive simultaneous determination of silicon and phosphorus in cast iron and steel by 14 MeV neutron activation was developed. The 1.78 MeV²⁸Al activity (T=2.24 min) induced by the reaction²⁸Si(n, p)²⁸Al is counted on a NaI(Tl) detector. Two measurements are made to correct for the 1.81 MeV⁵⁶Mn activity (T=2.58 hr) from the iron matrix. However,²⁸Al is also produced via³¹P(n, α)²⁸Al. By (n, 2n) reaction, phosphorus yields also³⁰P (T=2.6 min), the 0.511 MeV annihilation radiation of which is counted by two opposite NaI(Tl) detectors in coincidence. Again, two successive coincidence measurements are carried out in order to take into account the⁵³Fe activity (β⁺; T=8.9 min) from⁵⁴Fe(n, 2n)⁵³Fe. The²⁸Al measurement is appropriately corrected via the computed phosphorus content. An oxygen flux monitor was used to normalize to the same flux. Nuclear interferences have been examined. Special attention has been paid to the presence of copper. The standard deviation for phosphorus being as high as ca. 0.09% P for a single determination, this technique can only be practical as an independent phosphorus analysis for high phosphorus cast irons. The precision on the²⁸Al measurement is 5% relative for 0.2% Si and 2.5% above 1% Si. Aspirant of the N.F.W.O.     

The precise and accurate determination of silicon in rocks by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis

The errors associated with the measurement of silicon in silicate rocks by fast neutron activation analysis have been investigated. The accuracy has been determined by comparing the values obtained with the accepted values for 22 silicate rock standards. Precisions of 0.25 % and accuracies of about 0.45 % are possible.