Lower limit of determination values for trace elements in iron certified reference materials by neutron activation analysis with multiple gamma-ray detection

Recycling steel products demands a new technique for determining tramp elements in steel. Tramp elements, As and Sb, in some iron certified reference materials were determined by neutron activation analysis with multiple gamma-ray detection method and reported in MTAA11. In MTAA12, the authors reported the lower limit of determination values (LDL) and the dispersion of this method. The values of the LDLs for As and Sb in high purity iron were 0.002 and 0.0009 μg·g⁻¹. The dispersion is small enough to satisfy the demand from materials science.     

Determination of As and Sb in Steels by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry after Reduction, Complexation and Sorption on Activated Carbon

 A method for the preconcentration and separation of As and Sb in steel sample solutions is proposed. The analytes are reduced to their trivalent oxidation states with a mixture of ascorbic acid and potassium iodide and complexed by the ammonium salt of dithiophosphoric acid O,O-diethyl ester. The complexes are sorbed onto carbon. After desorption in a small volume of nitric acid solution, As and Sb are determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Iron(III) is also reduced to Fe(II), which is not complexed and is about 99.9% eliminated by the preconcentration procedure. Enrichment factors of 5 and 10 were obtained for As and Sb, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of four certified steel samples, after acid dissolution in a microwave system and good agreement was obtained with the certified values. Received May 4, 1998. Revision February 22, 1999.     

高炉生铁化学分析用与光谱分析用国家标准样品的研制

在冶炼、铸造、加工等操作中采取多种工艺措施,研制了高炉生铁化学分析用与光谱分析用国家标准样品,对研制的标准样品进行严格的均匀性和稳定性检验.由国内8家具有资质的分析实验室参与协作定值.定值元素达19项(C,Si,Mn,P,S,Cr,Ni,Cu,Mo,V,Ti,Co,Als,Alt,As,Sb,Sn,Pb,Zn等).分析...     

Simultaneous determination of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and mercury in geological materials by vapor generation-four-channel non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Chemical vapor generation (CVG) coupled with non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry (NDAFS) has been widely used for determination of vapor-forming elements, but most of such works have been focused on single element analysis, and reports dealing with more than three elements simultaneous determination by CVG-NDAFS are rare. In this work, a sensitive and robust analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and mercury in geological materials using vapor generation-four-channel non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry has been developed. The conditions of instrumentation and vapor generation of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and mercury were optimized. The optimized concentrations of KBH(4) and HCl required for analytes generation were 1.3% (m/v) and 20% (v/v), respectively. The interferences of coexisting ions and mutual hydride interferences were investigated carefully. One thousand milligrams per litre of Fe(3+); 500mgl(-1) of Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Mn(2+); 50mgl(-1) Cu(2+), Ni(2+), Cr(6+), Co(2+); 10mgl(-1) Ag(+) and 5mgl(-1) Au(3+) does not interfere with the determination of As, Sb, Bi and Hg. Associating a dilution of 1:250 (m/v) in the procedure of sample pretreatment, the tolerant concentrations of As, Sb, Bi and Hg in real geological materials are 2500, 1000, 250 and 5000ppm, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits for As, Sb, Bi and Hg were determined to be 0.068, 0.047, 0.037 and 0.008ngml(-1), respectively. The precisions for seven replicate determinations at the 5ngml(-1) of As, Sb, Bi and 1ngml(-1) of Hg were 0.47, 0.60, 0.97 and 0.93% (R.S.D.), respectively. Sample digestion was carried out on 500mg sample with 3ml HNO(3) and 10ml HCl, followed by addition of thiourea solution for the quantitative reduction of As(V), Sb(V) to As(III), Sb(III). The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of As, Sb, Bi and Hg in a series of certified geological reference materials using simple aqueous standard calibration technique. The results obtained are in good agreement with the certified values.     

Determination of Ga, Ge, As, Se and Sb in fly ash samples by ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (USS-ETV-ICP-MS) has been applied to determine Ga, Ge, As, Se and Sb in fly ash samples. The influences of instrument operating conditions and slurry preparation on the ion signals were reported. Pd and ascorbic acid were used as the mixed modifiers to enhance the ion signals. This method has been applied to determine Ga, Ge, As, Se and Sb in NIST SRM 1633a and 1633b coal fly ash reference materials and a fly ash sample collected locally. Since the sensitivities of the elements studied in slurry solution and aqueous solution were different slightly, analyte addition technique was used for the determination of Ga, Ge, As, Se and Sb in these samples. The As and Se analysis results of the reference materials agreed with the certified values. The results for which no certified value was available were also found to be in good agreement between the ETV-ICP-MS results and the reference values. The reference value was obtained by digesting the samples and analyzing the digested sample solutions by pneumatic nebulization Dynamic Reaction Cell™ (DRC) ICP-MS. The method detection limits estimated from analyte addition curves were about 0.23, 0.13, 0.17, 0.25 and 0.11 μg g⁻¹ for Ga, Ge, As, Se and Sb, respectively, in original fly ash samples.     

溶剂萃取-电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法同时测定钢铁中铅、砷、锑、铋、锡

本文拟定了在4.05mol/L硫酸介质中,0.5mol/L碘化铵存在下,以甲基异丁基酮(MIBK)萃取钢铁中铅、砷、锑、铋、锡。然后以4mol/L硝酸反萃取,水相经浓缩定容后以电感耦合等离子体直读光谱仪进行同时测定的新方法。铜同时被萃取,对铋的测定产生光谱干扰,输入干扰系数加以修正。该方法已应用于我厂日常生产的各类合金钢及高温合金中。站果令人满意。     

Simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biological samples by hydride generation-four-channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new and sample technique for the simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biologic samples by hydride generation-four-channel nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry was development. The conditions of instrumentation and hydride generation of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium were optimized. For reducing hexavalent Se to the tetravalent state was to heat the sample with 6 mol l⁻¹ HCl, and then pre-reducing pentavalent As and Sb to the trivalent state was achieved by the addition of 0.05 mol l⁻¹ thiourea. The interferences of coexisting ions were evaluated. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits for As, Sb, Bi and Se were determined to be 0.03, 0.04, 0.04 and 0.03 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. The precision for seven replicate determinations at the 5 ng ml⁻¹ of As, Sb, Bi and Se were 0.9, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5% (R.S.D.), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of As, Sb, Bi and Se in a series of Chinese certified biological reference materials using simple aqueous standard calibration technique, the results obtained are in good agreement with the certified values.     

Determination of trace amounts of gold and silver in high-purity iron and steel by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after reductive coprecipitation

Trace amounts of gold and silver in high-purity iron or steel were preconcentrated by reductive coprecipitation with palladium using ascorbic acid, and determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS). Both gold and silver could be simultaneously separated and sensitively determined in 10 metals (aluminum, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, vanadium and zinc). Comparable values were obtained for gold and silver in reference materials (low alloy steel) by the proposed method and a non-separation method; good agreement was found between the analytical values by both methods and the certified values. The proposed method is easy, simple and not dependent on sample composition and content. Moreover, gold and silver in metal samples could be simultaneously separated together with selenium and tellurium. The detection limits for gold and silver (3 σ) are 0.003 μg g^–1 and 0.002 μg g^–1, respectively. Received: 3 February 2000 / Revised: 11 April 2000 / Accepted: 16 April 2000     

Determination of trace amounts of gold and silver in high-purity iron and steel by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after reductive coprecipitation

Trace amounts of gold and silver in high-purity iron or steel were preconcentrated by reductive coprecipitation with palladium using ascorbic acid, and determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS). Both gold and silver could be simultaneously separated and sensitively determined in 10 metals (aluminum, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, vanadium and zinc). Comparable values were obtained for gold and silver in reference materials (low alloy steel) by the proposed method and a non-separation method; good agreement was found between the analytical values by both methods and the certified values. The proposed method is easy, simple and not dependent on sample composition and content. Moreover, gold and silver in metal samples could be simultaneously separated together with selenium and tellurium. The detection limits for gold and silver (3 σ) are 0.003 μg g^–1 and 0.002 μg g^–1, respectively. Received: 3 February 2000 / Revised: 11 April 2000 / Accepted: 16 April 2000     

双道氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法同时测定核电用钢中痕量砷和锑

建立了双道氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法同时测定核电用钢中痕量砷和锑的新方法。用王水溶解样品,以2.0 g/L L-半胱氨酸溶液作为预还原剂,在低酸度条件下实现对砷、锑的预还原。用20 g/L硼氢化钾溶液作为还原剂,氢化物发生反应在0.5 mol/L乙酸介质中进行。砷、锑的质量浓度在40μg/L范围与相应的荧光强度呈线性关系,方法的检出限(3s/k)分别为0.032μg/L和0.022μg/L。应用此方法同时测定了核电用钢及不锈钢标准样品中的砷锑含量,并与电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法的分析结果作了对比,测定值与标准样品的标准值相符,结果的相对标准偏差(n=8)均小于5.0%。     

Simultaneous speciation of inorganic arsenic and antimony in natural waters by dimercaptosuccinic acid modified mesoporous titanium dioxide micro-column on-line separation and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry determination

A novel absorbent was prepared by dimercaptosuccinic acid chemically modifying mesoporous titanium dioxide and was employed as the micro-column packing material for simultaneous separation/preconcentration of inorganic arsenic and antimony species. It was found that both trivalent and pentavalent of inorganic As and Sb species could be adsorbed quantitatively on dimercaptosuccinic acid modified TiO₂ within a pH range of 4–7, and only As(III) and Sb(III) could be quantitatively retained on the micro-column within a pH range of 10–11 while As(V) and Sb(V) were passed through the micro-column without the retention. Based on this fact, a new method of flow injection on-line micro-column separation/preconcentration coupled to inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry was developed for simultaneous speciation of trace inorganic arsenic and antimony in natural waters. Under the optimized conditions, an enrichment factor of 10 and sampling frequency of 10 h^− 1 were obtained with on-line mode. The detection limits of As(III), As(V), Sb(III), and Sb(V) are 0.53, 0.49, 0.77 and 0.71 ng mL^− 1 for on-line mode and as low as 0.11, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.13 ng mL^− 1 for off-line mode due to its higher enrichment factor (50), respectively. The relative standard deviations of two modes are less than 6.7% (C = 20 ng mL^− 1, n = 7). The concentration ratio of lower oxidation states/higher oxidation states changing from 1:10 to 10:1 has no obvious effect on the recoveries of As(III) and Sb(III). In order to validate the developed method, two certified reference materials of GSBZ5004-88 and GBW(E)080545 water sample were analyzed and the determined values are in good agreement with the certified values. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous speciation of inorganic arsenic and antimony in natural waters.     

Simultanbestimmung von Si, Mn, P, Cu, Al, Ni, Cr, Mo, V, Ti, Co und As in St?hlen mit ICP-AES

Summary A universal method for quantitative analysis of twelve elements in low-alloy steels is described. The samples are digested in a mixture of sulfuric-/nitric acid/ammonium peroxodisulfate. Si, Mn, P, Cu, Al, Ni, Cr, Mo, V, Ti, Co, As are determined in solution by ICP-AES. The procedure was tested with NBS and BCS reference samples. The analytical results are in good agreement with the certified values. With slight modifications, the method is applicable to the analysis of high-alloy steel samples.     

高能偏振能量色散X射线荧光光谱法分析古陶瓷

以国家地质标准样品制作工作曲线,用粉末压片法制样,高能偏振能量色散X射线荧光光谱法测定古陶瓷中包括15种稀土元素在内的56种元素,通过对6个陶瓷胎标准样品分析,结果表明:钪、钒、锰、铬、锌、镓、锗、铷、锶、钇、锆、铌、镉、锡、铯、钡、镧、铈、镨、钕、钆、钬、铒、铥、镱、镥、钍、铀等28种痕量元素测定值均在参考值的不确定度3～4倍范围,其他痕量元素如镍、铜、钼、锑、钐、铕、铽、铪、铅、铋等10种元素合格率为50%～83%。钠、镁、钾、钙、铁的氧化物和钛等6个项目均在允许误差范围内。氯、硫、磷的合格率均为66.6%。二氧化硅和三氧化二铝测定值和波长色散X射线荧光光谱熔融法测定结果相比,绝对误差分别在0.95%～4.46%和0.60%～1.66%之间。     

Relative sensitivity coefficients for the analysis of steel by spark-source mass-spectrometry

Quantitative analysis by spark-source mass-spectrometry requires the knowledge of socalled sensitivity coefficients for the elements being determined. Five series of analyses have been carried out on five different steel standard reference materials (NBS-SRM 661-665), using photoplate detection. The relative sensitivity coefficients (S(R)) of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Zr, Nb, Mo, Sn, Sb, La, Ta and W were determined vs. iron as an internal standard. The S(R) values were independent of the elemental concentration. A relative standard deviation of about 15% was obtained. The accuracy as confirmed by comparing the results for a pure iron sample with those obtained by neutron-activation analysis was within the same limits.     

Grey cast iron reference material certified for antimony, arsenic, bismuth, and lead

Summary Almost 200 kg of grey cast iron, to which amounts of antimony, arsenic bismuth and lead were added, was prepared in the form of eighty bars. From these bars a number of disks (32 mm diameter, 10 mm thick) were cut. Homogeneity tests within disks and between disks cut from the same and from different bars showed that the inhomogeneity is less than 1.0 and 1.5% for antimony and lead, respectively. By means of electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, instrumental neutron activation analysis or radiochemical proton activation analysis the following 95% confidence intervals were certified: 263.5 ± 4.4 ppm for antimony, 347.1 ± 5.8 ppm for arsenic, 33.6 ± 0.8 ppm for bismuth and 296 ± 16 ppm for lead. The reference material is available for potential users.

---

Referenzmaterial für graues Gußeisen, zertifiziert für Antimon, Arsen, Bismut und Blei

Zusammenfassung 200 kg graues Gußeisen mit Zusätzen von Sb, As, Bi und Pb wurden in Form von 80 Stangen hergestellt, die in Scheiben zerschnitten wurden (Durchmesser 32 mm, Dicke 10 mm). Homogenitätstests innerhalb und zwischen den Scheiben von derselben und von verschiedenen Stangen zeigten, daß die Inhomogenität für Sb bzw. Pb weniger als 1,0 bzw. 1.5% betrug. Durch elektrothermische AAS sowie durch Neutronenaktivierungsanalyse oder radiochemische Protonenaktivierungsanalyse wurden die folgenden Werte zertifiziert (95% Vertrauensintervall): 263,5 ± 4,4 ppm Sb, 347,1 ± 5,8 ppm As, 33,6 ± 0,8 ppm Bi und 296 ± 16 ppm Pb. Die Referenzmaterialien stehen Interessenten zur Verfügung.

---

---

Senior Research Assoociate of the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium)     

Semiquantitative Analysis of Biological Materials by Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry

Semiquantitative analysis with accuracy of ±30 to 50% is a valuable tool for rapid screening of samples prior to quantitative determination of trace metals. In this study semiquantitative analysis software available with commercial inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation is applied for rapid multielemental analysis, and the accuracy and precision of this semiquantitative analysis approach is evaluated with biological certified reference materials. Samples were prepared by high-pressure, high-temperature nitric acid vapor-phase digestion. For most elements the measured semiquantitative results are in the range of the certified values. With appropriate analyte solution dilution, the measured concentrations of the major elements (e.g., Ca) also agree with certified values. The accuracy is within ±10% for 28 element determinations that include 16 individual elements (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sr, Tl, and Zn) and ±20% for 54 element determinations that include three more elements (Mg, V, and U) in eight certified reference materials including water. The method precision is 11 ± 11% (relative standard deviation,n= 65).     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis applied to the determination of the chemical composition of metallic materials with study of interferences

Summary Instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied to evaluate the chemical composition of metallic materials, namely iron, steel, silicon and ferrosilicon certified reference materials. As, Co, Cr, Mn, Mo, Ni, V and W concentrations were analyzed in the iron and steel samples whereas 21 elements were determined in silicon and ferrosilicon samples. Accuracy and precision results of about 10% were achieved for most elements, indicating that the technique is suitable for the analysis of metallic materials. Interferences of Cr and Mn in V; Fe and Co in Mn; Co in Fe and Cr in Ti were quantified and only the last one was critical to the analysis of the materials employed in this work.     

Improved ease of operation in epithermal NAA by irradiation in plastic capsules and use of well-type Ge-spectrometry: A feasibility study

An epithermal neutron activation analysis (ENAA) procedure has been evaluated in which samples packed in polyethylene capsules are irradiated during 15 minutes only, and induced activities are counted using well-type Ge-spectrometry. The evaluation was carried out in order to improve on ease of operation in ENAA. Biological and sediment reference materials have been analyzed. Compared to routine INAA, an improvement in detection limits was observed for As, Au, Cd, Mo, Ni, Sb, Sm, Sr, Ta, U, W and Zn. By Au–Zr neutron flux monitors, epithermal flux gradients have been determined. Concentrations found in the reference materials were generally in agreement with certified and consensus values.