Simultaneous determination of seven trace impurities (Al, As, Cr, Fe, Ti, V and Zr) in high-purity nickel metal and nickel oxide by coprecipitation and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Nickel is not coprecipitated with lanthanum hydroxide in ammonium hydroxide solution because it forms rapidly soluble nickel ammine complexes. This behaviour is used for the separation of Ni matrix from trace elements. These are simultaneously and quantitatively coprecipitated with lanthanum hydroxide at pH 10.0 and separated from the Ni matrix. Seven trace elements (Al, As, Cr, Fe, Ti, V and Zr) in Ni metal and 3 certified elements (Cr, Fe and Ti) in a standard reference material of nickel oxide have been simultaneously determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).