Trace Determination of Boron in Uranium-Aluminum-Silicon and Aluminum- Silicon-Nickel (SILUMIN) Alloys by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)

Abstract

A novel and simple matrix separation method has been developed for the trace level determination of boron in uranium-aluminum-silicon and aluminum-silicon-nickel (SILUMIN) alloys using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The samples were digested by HF/HF-HNO 3 in the presence of mannitol to form the boron-mannitol complex. The sample solution was evaporated to dryness on a water bath and treated with ethanol to selectively extract the boron-mannitol complex from the solid residue of the matrix. The ethanol fraction containing the boron-mannitol complex was separated, evaporated to dryness, taken in water, and measured by ICP-AES. The limit of detection was found to be 0.270 mg kg-1. The matrix removal was around 99.5%, the recovery of boron for 80-450 ng was in the 93-96% range. The analytical results of boron in U-Al-Si matrices (0.40-1.10 mg kg-1) agreed well with existing spectrophotometric methods at ± 4% variation.