Determination of isotopic composition of lithium by neutron activation analysis; comparison with mass spectrometry

An activation analysis method is described for routine determination of⁶Li-abundances in various lithium compounds on the basis of the reaction sequence⁶Li(n,α)T and¹⁶O(t, n)¹⁸F and the measurement of¹⁸F. Irradiations of diluted equeous solutions of samples containing CrO₃ as internal flux monitor were carried out at a thermal neutron flux density of ϕ≤10¹¹ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹. Interferences from variations in neutron self-shielding oxygen concentration and triton range do not exceed 0.5% when using the dilution technique. The results for⁶Li abundances from 3.52 to 7.60% with standard deviations of 1 to 2.5% were confirmed by mass spectrometric measurements.