Neutron-activation analysis of manganese in polysulphide materials

A fast non-destructive neutron-activation analysis method has been developed for manganese in polysulphide adhesives. Samples are irradiated for 20 min at a thermal flux of 2 x 10(10) n cm(-2) sec(-1). The net activity in the 0.845-MeV gamma peak of (56)Mn produced by the (n, gamma) reaction in the sample is compared with the activity obtained from a weighed amount of pure manganese irradiated at the same time. Samples containing 2-3% of manganese have been analysed with a relative standard deviation of 2.9%.