Fast determination of gold in large mass samples of gold ores by photoexcitation reactions using 10 MeV bremsstrahlung

The determination of gold is based on the photoexcitation reaction ¹⁹⁷Au(γ,γ’)^197mAu with the half-life of 7.73 seconds and energy of emitted gamma-rays of 279 keV. Three 100 ml aliquots of coarsely ground Au-ore (grains <2 mm) corresponding to ca. 150–180 g were irradiated for 20 seconds with bremsstrahlung of maximum energy 10 MeV produced by a microtron at the electron beam current of 30–40 μA, 1–10 times reactivation was applied. After 3 seconds of decay, samples were measured for 20 seconds using scintillation or semiconductor gamma-spectrometry with the detection limits for an ideal sample down to 0.5 μg·g⁻¹ and 0.1–0.2 μg·g⁻¹ of Au, respectively. Content of U and Th undergoing photo-fission increases the detection limits several times.     

Uptake of some lanthanides on γ-zirconium phosphate-phosphite and its 1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2-bipyridyl intercalated products

γ-Zirconium phosphate-phosphite, γ-Zr·PO₄·H₂PO₃·2H₂O, (γ-ZrPP), was prepared and characterized. Direct treatment of γ-zirconium phosphate-phosphite with an ethanol solution of 0.1M 1,10-phenanthrolin and 2,2'-bipyridyl gave the well defined composites, γ-Zr·PO₄·H₂PO₃(phen)_0.15·H₂O and γ-Zr·PO₄·H₂PO₃(bipy)_0.18·0.6H₂O respectively.K _d values of a mixture of lanthanide ions: La³⁺, Sm³⁺, Eu³⁺ and Yb³⁺ for the intercalated products and for γ-ZrPP in HNO₃ solution at room temperature and at pH 2 and 4 were determined by a radiotracer technique.¹⁴⁰La,^152mEu,¹⁵³Sm and¹⁷⁵Yb radioisotopes were used for the equilibration experiment using 500 μl (4.0·10⁻⁵ mmole) each of the solutions of the tracers as a mixture in 7.5 M HNO₃ solution at the desired pH with 0.1 g of γ-ZrPP and of the intercalated products. The selectivity order was found to be dependent on the nature of the ligand and on the pH. The 2,2'-bipyridyl product posseses, at pH 2 in general, a highK _d value, specially for Sm³⁺ (9815.9) compared to that of the 1,10-phenanthrolin product (3375.5) and to γ-ZrPP (419.8). This could be attributed to partial deintercalation of the 2,2'-bipyridyl at pH 2 and increasing of ionogenic groups.     

Determination of inorganic impurities in PVC latex by activation analysis

Experimental work was carried out in order to determine inorganic impurities in PVC latex by activation analysis. Arsenic and bromine were detected and quantitatively determined by means of two alternative methods: (a) comparison of the samples and As₂O₃ and KBr standard simultaneously irradiated with slow neutrons; (b) the same as (a), but considering only bromine and using standards made by adding and homogenizing known amounts of KBr in the PVC latex. All measurements were based on γ-spectrometry. The mean values given by method (a) are: arsenic (2.5±0.4)·10⁻⁴%, bromine (1.9±0.1)·10⁻³%. In method (b) the bromine found was (2.47±0.03)·10⁻³%.     

The estimation of barium in biological material by neutron activation analysis

Barium is estimated in biological material by thermal neutron activation analysis and measurement of¹³⁹Ba by γ-counting. The biological material is digested with nitric acid and scavenged with ferric hydroxide. A special fluoride precipitation removes calcium and strontium and the barium is recovered as the chromate. The method allows the analysis of up to 40 samples per day and the sensitivity is 0.1 μg after irradiation for 85 mins at 4·10¹²n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹.     

Characterization of wood fibers modified by phenol-formaldehyde

Wood-fiber phenol-formaldehyde-resin (PFR) modified surfaces, obtained from the adsorption of a PFR/water solution, are investigated as a function of the nature and the amount of PFR adsorbed. Surface are measurements are performed by using krypton adsorption at 77 K. Chemical modification is monitored by the electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) technique and the surface energy by the inverse phase gas chromatography (IPGC) method at infinite dilution. The London dispersive componentγ _S ^L of the surface energy shows a relationship to the concentration of carbon and oxgen at the fiber surface.γ _S ^L increases from 27.5 mN·m⁻¹ for the untreated fiber to 42.5 mN·m⁻¹ for the fibers treated with 20% high molecular-weight-grade phenol-formaldehyde. The surface atomic ratio O/C determined using the ESCA technique exhibits a decrease from 44% for untreated to 31% for treated samples. Surface area also decreases from 2.09 m²/g to 1.50 m²/g. The PFR adsorbed by wood fibers is observed as the dispersive component of surface energy starts to increase, as the surface oxygen concentration decreases, and on the surface area of the wood fiber.     

Atmospheric deposition fluxes of <Superscript>7</Superscript>Be, <Superscript>210</Superscript>Pb and <Superscript>210</Superscript>Po at Xiamen,China

The atmospheric deposition fluxes of ⁷Be, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po at Xiamen were measured. The samples were collected from March 2004 to April 2005 and the sampling period was one month. The ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb activity were measured using HPGe γ-spectrometer after concentration using Fe(OH)₃ co-precipitation method. The ²¹⁰Po was counted with an α-spectrometer after the sample was digested and spontaneous plated onto a silver planchet. At Xiamen, the atmospheric deposition fluxes of ⁷Be varied between 0.11 and 2.93 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹ and the average was 1.64 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹; ²¹⁰Pb fluxes varied between 0.04 and 0.85 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹, and the average was 0.51 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹; ²¹⁰Po fluxes varied between 0.002 and 0.133 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹, and the average was 0.061 Bq·m⁻²·d⁻¹. There were positive correlations between the deposition fluxes of ⁷Be, ²¹⁰Pb or ²¹⁰Po and the amount of precipitation. The residence time of aerosols varied between 6.0 and 54.0 days with a mean of 27.1 days, which were calculated by ²¹⁰Po/²¹⁰Pb fluxes ratios.     

Integral invariants for high-symmetry open-shell molecules

A method for calculating the energies of electronic states arising from a degenerate open shellγ ^N in terms of integral invariants H^k(γ,γ) is presented. The calculation proceeds from expansions for the electron repulsion integrals 〈mm/nn〉 on degenerate orbitals ofγ symmetry in terms of H^k(γ,γ). The energies of states for theγ ^N electronic configurations with dimγ≤3 (e^N and t^N configurations) are tabulated. Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 183–195, March–April, 1998. This work was supported by RFFR grants No. 96-03-01167 and 96-03-34035.     

Rare-earth elemental analysis of banded iron-formations by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Representative banded iron-formations (BIFs) from various locations of the eastern Indian geological belt were investigated by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). After pre-concentration, irradiation was carried out using a neutron flux of 5.1·10¹⁶ m⁻²·s⁻¹, 1.0·10¹⁵ m⁻²·s⁻¹ and 3.7·10¹⁵ m⁻²s⁻¹, with thermal, epi-thermal and fast neutrons, respectively. The activities in these samples were measured by a HPGe detector. Ten rare-earth elements, such as La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Ho, Tm, Yb and Lu, have been qualitatively identified and quantitatively estimated in these samples. The present investigation is an example of employing a pre-concentration method for high iron-containing ores prior to neutron activation analysis.     

Determination of trace impurities in tin by neutron activation analysis

Two methods are described to determine indium and managenese in high-purity tin. In the first method indium and manganese are separated from the tin and antimony matrix activities on Dowex 1X8 anion exchanger. Tin and antimony are adsorbed in 10M HF while indium and manganese are eluted. In the second method the incident γ-ray intensity due to the tin matrix is reduced by placing a lead absorber between the sample and the detector. The reproducibility and the sensitivity of both methods are of the order of 10 ppb for manganese and of 1 ppb for indium for 1 g samples and a neutron flux of 10¹¹ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹. Aspirant of the N. F. W. O.     

Measurements of the thermal neutron cross-sections and resonance integrals for 186W (n,γ) 187W and 98Mo (n,γ) 99Mo reactions

The thermal neutron cross-sections and resonance integrals of the ¹⁸⁶W (n,γ) ¹⁸⁷W and ⁹⁸Mo (n,γ) ⁹⁹Mo reactions in the thermal and 1/E regions, respectively, of a thermal reactor neutron spectrum have been experimentally determined by the activation method using ¹⁹⁷Au (n,γ) ¹⁹⁸Au reaction as a single comparator. The high purity natural W, Mo, and Zr foils; and Au wire diluted in aluminum, were irradiated without Cd shield in two neutron irradiation sites, characterized with different values for the thermal-to-epithermal flux ratios, f at the Second Egyptian Research Reactor (ETRR-2). The induced activities in the samples were measured by high-resolution γ-ray spectrometry with a calibrated germanium detector. Thermal neutron cross-sections for 2200 m/s neutrons and resonance integrals for the ¹⁸⁶W (n,γ) ¹⁸⁷W and ⁹⁸Mo (n,γ) ⁹⁹Mo reactions have been obtained relative to the reference values, σ₀ = 98.65 ± 0.09 b and I ₀ = 1500 ± 28 b for the ¹⁹⁷Au (n,γ) ¹⁹⁸Au reaction. The necessary correction factors for thermal neutron and resonance neutron self-shielding effects, and the epithermal flux index (α) were taken into account in the determinations. The results obtained were: σ₀ = 38.43 ± 0.4 b and I ₀ = 502 ± 65 b for ¹⁸⁶W (n,γ) ¹⁸⁷W, and σ₀ = 0.137 ± 0.014 band I ₀ = 6.47 ± 0.8 for ⁹⁸Mo (n,γ) ⁹⁹Mo. These results are discussed and compared with previous measurements and evaluated data in literature. The traditional method of determining thermal cross-sections and resonance integrals via neutron irradiation with and without Cd shield in one irradiation position was avoided in this work by neutron irradiation without Cd shield in at least two different neutron irradiation positions. This method provides alternative way for determining thermal cross-sections and resonance integrals simultaneously.     

The determination of fluorine in bones by non-destructive neutron activation analysis using 11.2 sec20F

A fast non-destructive determination of fluorine in bone samples by thermal neutron activation analysis using¹⁹F(n, γ)²⁰F reaction was developed. About 0.1–1 g samples is irradiated for 15 sec in TRIGA MARK II reactor at a thermal neutron flux of 5·10¹¹ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹. After 15–25 sec cooling, the 1633 KeV²⁰F activity (T=11.2 sec) is counted for 15 sec with a Ge(Li) spectrometer. A standard sample is prepared by mixing CaF₂ and CaCO₃ powders. The interference from²³Na(n, α)²⁰F is corrected by employing²⁴Na 2754 KeV double escape peak activities in samples and the²⁰F/²⁴Na peak area ratio observed previously for pure Na₂CO₃ powder. The precision is 7% for a bone sample containing 1020 ppm F and the sensitivity is about 10 ppm F.     

Radiochemical separation and determination of europium by Ge(Li) detector in biological tissues

A simple neutron activation method has been developed for the determination of europium in biological tissues and applied in the analysis of marine organism samples with ±9% precision at the nanogram level. The method is based on the separation, by ion-exchange, of the rare earth group from dry or ashed irradiated tissues and subsequent determination of^152mEu, by γ-spectrometry using a lithium drifted germanium detector.^152mEu, separated almost completely from other than rare earth elements, with better than 98% chemical yield, is counted on the 121.8 keV photopeak which then is practically free from any other γ-ray energy interfering in this counting.     

Determination of lithium by instrumental neutron activation analysis

The fast transfer system in the DR 2 reactor for irradiation at a thermal neutron flux density of 10¹³ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹ was used for the determination of lithium by the⁷Li(n, γ)⁸Li reaction. β-counting with a large perspex Cerenkov detector begun at 0.3 s after the end of irradiation, and multi-scaler data was accumulated in 300 channels at 0.1 s per channel. With a suitable choice of discrimination level only¹⁶N and background interfere, and the 0.84 s half-life of⁸Li was resolved by the method of weighted least squares. Results are presented for 36 international geochemical reference materials, and for a few biological samples, including BOWEN's kale and the NBS Standard Reference Material 1571 Orchard Leaves.     

Preparation and measurement of the half-life of <Superscript>101</Superscript>Tc

¹⁰¹Tc is a very important nuclide as fuel burn up monitor, and its half-life value has been measured many times, however, they were so different from each other. In this work, ¹⁰¹Tc liquid samples were prepared by irradiating analytical pure (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄·4H₂O solution in Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) of China. A rapid procedure which takes only 5 min was developed to separate ¹⁰¹Tc samples. The final samples were analyzed by γ-ray spectrum using high purity Germanium (HPGe) multi-channel analysis system. The results showed that there were no peaks of other nuclides except ¹⁰¹Tc. The half-life of ¹⁰¹Tc was accurately measured with HPGe γ-detector following 306.8 keV γ-ray for about 140 min, and three methods R-value method, iterative method and translation method were adopted to process the data. Finally, a more precise and accurate value 14.02 ± 0.01 min was given and compared with former measured data.     

Proton mobility in complex [RhL4Cl2]HSO4 · nH2SO4 · mH2O salts (L = Py, γ-picoline)

The method of deposition from solutions was used to synthesize [RhL ₄Cl₂]HSO₄ · nH₂SO₄ · mH₂O complex salts (L = Py, γ-picoline), n ≈ 0.5−0.6, m ≈ 5−6. According to the data of X-ray phase analysis, the crystal structure of these salts is formed by layers of cations separated by layers consisting of anions molecules of sulfuric acid and water connected through a system of hydrogen bonds. Calorimetric methods were used to study phase transitions and the range of thermal stability of salts. The method of ¹H NMR spectroscopy discovered that protons within the {HSO₄⁻ · nH₂SO₄ · mH₂O} subsystem featured enhanced conductivity. Conductivity studies showed that trans-[RhL ₄Cl₂]HSO₄ · nH₂SO₄ · mH₂O samples had high proton conductivity.     

Determination des fonctions d'excitation des reactions19F(p, α0)16O et7Li(p, α0)4He entre 150 et 1800 keV

The experimental device used is described. Excitation functions are given for an angle of observation 150° with respect to the incident beam. The possibilities of applying these reactions to the measurement of surface lithium and fluorine concentrations are considered. The detection limits for these two elements are shown to be 5·10⁻³ μg·cm⁻² with protons of energy between 1,350 and 1,500 keV. The method is compared with that based on the detection of prompt γ-rays from the reactions⁷Li(p, γ)⁸Be and¹⁹F(p, α γ)¹⁶O.      

Fluorine analysis by activation with an isotopic fast-neutron source and counting Nitrogen-16

A rapid, nondestructive method has been developed for determination of fluorine by activation with fast neutrons from a²⁴¹Am-²⁴²Cm-Be source and counting the 6–7 MeV γ rays of the product nitrogen-16. The total neutron output of the source is 4.8·10⁹ unmoderated neutrons per second and the flux is 1.4·10⁸ fast n·cm⁻²· sec⁻¹. The γ-ray detectors consist of two opposing, matched cylindrical NaI(Tl) crystals 10 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. The sample is irradiated for 30 seconds, cooled for 4 seconds, and then counted for 30 seconds. The sensitivity is 4.8·10⁴ counts nitrogen-16 per gram fluorine, and the limit of detection is 0.4 mg fluorine in a 10-gram sample. A reproducibility of 0.24% is achieved. The relative standard deviation of the specific count rate of nitrogen-16 for 11 fluorine compounds is 1.31%.     

Non-destructive determination of uranium and thorium in geological materials by resonance-neutron activation analysis

A simple method is described for the determination of uranium and thorium in gological materials. The samples are irradiated in a reactor with resonance and fast neutrons behind a cadmium filter. Compared with an irradiation with the whole reactor neutron spectrum, the matrix activities are reduced to about 1%, those of uranium (²³⁹Np) and thorium (²³³Pa) to about only 50 and 25%, respectively. This relative diminution of matrix activities allows the γ-measurement of²³⁹Np and²³³Pa as early as after two days' cooling time; in samples with high uranium contents the determination of²³³Pa requires one month's cooling time. This non-destructive procedure yields a detection limit of 0.1 ppm for uranium and thorium in samples of 200 mg, with an error of ±5%. Dedicated to ProfessorW. Borchert on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Determination of carbon impurities in epitaxial layers from semiconductor silicon by means of charged particles

The energy-dependent range of charged particles in activation analysis according to the reaction¹²C(d,n)¹³N permits the method to be applied to carbon determination in model epitaxial layers of sufficient thickness. We investigated 100 μm epitaxial layers of the n-type and undoped 50 μ layers as to p⁻ Czochralski substrates. Deuterons were slowed down with Cu and Ta foils having a limiting energy of 13.5 MeV, to 4.2 MeV and 2.9 MeV, respectively. In the resulting activation depths of 52 and 102 μm, the sensitivity of the method, which is 3·10¹⁴ at ·cm⁻³C at E_d=10 MeV in silicon, is reduced to 25% and 10%, respectively. An optimal flux of 0.9 μA·cm⁻² was maintained. After irradiation, 20 or 10 μm were etched off. The sample was inductively fused at 1500 K in a Pb₃O₄/B₂O₃ mixture.¹³N was passed with He as carrier gas into an absorption vessel kept at 77 K, and its activity was measured in γ, γ-coincidence.     

Partitioning technique procedure revisited II: Application to the Stark and Zeeman problems in light atoms

We show that the modified partitioning procedure can be applied to study the spherical and nonspherical Stark effect in the hydrogen atom and the spherical quadratic Zeeman effect in H^-, the helium atom and He‐like ions: Li⁺⁺, Be⁺⁺, etc. We present ground‐state energy values for γ (in a.u.) in the interval 0.001 ≤ λ ≤ 0.2 (a.u.= 5.142·10⁹ volts/cm) and for magnetic field γ (in a.u.) in the interval 0.1 ≤ γ ≤ 1.0 (a.u. = 2.353·10⁹ gauss). We compare our results to values available in the literature; they are, in general, better than those obtained by other methods. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.