Quantification of trace level rare earth elements in Al matrices by ICP-MS

摘要

A method has been developed for quantification of trace rare earth (Cc, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb and Yb) impurities in alumina and aluminum by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after matrix separation. The matrix separation was achieved by selective precipitation of trace elements. Due to its refractory nature a microwave digestion method was developed and optimized for the quantitative dissolution of Al2O3. The analytical methodology was validated by recovery studies with standard addition as well as with an independent gamma-spectrometry technique using Eu-152,Eu-154 tracers. The observed recovery in the synthetic samples was in the range of 93-100% with precision within 6.1-11.6 (%RSD), while the same in the case of radio tracer technique were found to be 98% and 2% (RSD), respectively. The method detection limit was found within 0.5-8.3 mu g kg(-1), respectively. The procedure is simple, organic waste free and suitable for routine analysis.