Establishment of reference materials for Nigeria using instrumental neutron activation analysis

This work has been motivated by the need to establish reference materials from locally available sources. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) with Ge(Li) detector has been used to determine 26 elements in seven homogeneous clay samples with a wide range of composition. Short half-life nuclides (10s-10 m) were used to assay Na, Mg, K, Tl, Al, V, Mn, Ba, Dy, Ca and U by a fast rabbit transfer system. The long-lived nuclides were used to assay Sc, Sm, Cr, Eu, Ce, Cs, La, Fe, Lu, Hf, Co, Rb, Ta, Sb, and Pa(Th) after decay of²⁴Na. The approach was purely instrumental. The accuracy of the resutls was tested by atomic absorption spectrometriy (AAS).