Radiochemical determination of trace noble metals in silver artefacts

Radiochemical separations are essential for the determination of trace elements in silver artefacts by neutron activation analysis due to the high levels of both short and long-lived activities produced by the matrix, but the sensitivity of the technique permits the examination of small samples. The noble metals are considered most significant from a diagnostic standpoint, and radiochemical techniques have been developed for their determination in samples of a few milligrams. Methods have been investigated for the determination of Pd, Rh, Ir and Pt in samples removed from museum specimens of known provenance.