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Title: Selective precipitation of potassium in seawater samples for improving the sensitivity of plain γ-ray spectrometry

Abstract

An analytical method is presented to reduce the amount of {sup 40}K in sea water samples, in order to lower its interference in γ-ray analysis below 1.4 MeV due to the Compton continuum. Sodium tetraphenylborate was used to successfully precipitate {sup 40}K in the samples. A custom procedure for precipitation of potassium was developed and it was evaluated for its selectivity, reproducibility and efficiency, using conventional analytical techniques such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This work has shown that the selective precipitation of potassium with sodium tetraphenylborate has led to a decrease of detection limit of radio nuclides such as {sup 238}U, {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 134}Cs, {sup 133}I, {sup 134}I, {sup 60}Co in γ-analysis. In particular, the detection limit for nuclides with emissions in the energy window energy below 1400 keV is improved by almost one order of magnitude.

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Via G. Acitelli, 22 Assergi 67100 (Italy)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22488712
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1672; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: LRT 2015: 5. international workshop in low radioactivity techniques, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-20 Mar 2015; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY; CESIUM 134; CESIUM 137; COBALT 60; ICP MASS SPECTROSCOPY; IODINE 133; IODINE 134; KEV RANGE; MEV RANGE; POTASSIUM; POTASSIUM 40; PRECIPITATION; RADIUM 226; RADIUM 228; SEAWATER; SENSITIVITY; SODIUM; URANIUM 238

Citation Formats

Ferrante, Marco, De Angelis, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.deangelis@univaq.it, Nisi, Stefano, and Laubenstein, Matthias. Selective precipitation of potassium in seawater samples for improving the sensitivity of plain γ-ray spectrometry. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4927995.
Ferrante, Marco, De Angelis, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.deangelis@univaq.it, Nisi, Stefano, & Laubenstein, Matthias. Selective precipitation of potassium in seawater samples for improving the sensitivity of plain γ-ray spectrometry. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927995
Ferrante, Marco, De Angelis, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.deangelis@univaq.it, Nisi, Stefano, and Laubenstein, Matthias. 2015. "Selective precipitation of potassium in seawater samples for improving the sensitivity of plain γ-ray spectrometry". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927995.
@article{osti_22488712,
title = {Selective precipitation of potassium in seawater samples for improving the sensitivity of plain γ-ray spectrometry},
author = {Ferrante, Marco and De Angelis, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.deangelis@univaq.it and Nisi, Stefano and Laubenstein, Matthias},
abstractNote = {An analytical method is presented to reduce the amount of {sup 40}K in sea water samples, in order to lower its interference in γ-ray analysis below 1.4 MeV due to the Compton continuum. Sodium tetraphenylborate was used to successfully precipitate {sup 40}K in the samples. A custom procedure for precipitation of potassium was developed and it was evaluated for its selectivity, reproducibility and efficiency, using conventional analytical techniques such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This work has shown that the selective precipitation of potassium with sodium tetraphenylborate has led to a decrease of detection limit of radio nuclides such as {sup 238}U, {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 134}Cs, {sup 133}I, {sup 134}I, {sup 60}Co in γ-analysis. In particular, the detection limit for nuclides with emissions in the energy window energy below 1400 keV is improved by almost one order of magnitude.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4927995},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22488712}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 1672,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}