DETERMINATION OF TRACES OF URANIUM AND THORIUM IN ANTIMONY(III) OXIDE BY ICP-MS

Traces of uranium and thorium in antimony(III) oxide were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A method of vaporization as the halide was applied to the separation of the analytes from the antimony matrix. Because the above separation method is so simple, reduced of external contamination was expected. In the case of vaporization using hydrochloric acid, however, it was found that antimony trichloride ions overlapped thorium ion of 232 (m/z). To find the most suitable conditions for matrix separation, vaporization behaviors were studied by using different acidic solutions such as HBr, HBr-HClO4 and HBr-H2SO4. Neither HBr+HClO4 nor HBr+H2SO4, was able to reduce the antimony matrix down to an unaffected level on ICP-MS measurement. On the other hand, in the case of the vaporization using hydrobromic acid, almost all the antimony matrix was removed. Determination limits obtained by this method were 0.02 and 0.03 ng g(-1) for uranium and thorium, respectively.