Assessing rare earth elements in quartz rich geological samples

A Santoro; V Thoss; S Ribeiro Guevara; D Urgast; A Raab; S Mastrolitti; J Feldmann

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.10.035

Assessing rare earth elements in quartz rich geological samples

Appl Radiat Isot. 2016 Jan:107:323-329. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.10.035. Epub 2015 Oct 31.

Authors

A Santoro¹, V Thoss¹, S Ribeiro Guevara², D Urgast³, A Raab³, S Mastrolitti⁴, J Feldmann³

Affiliations

¹ Bangor University, School of Chemistry, Bangor LL57 2UW, United Kingdom.
² Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica, Centro Atómico Bariloche, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina. Electronic address: ribeiro@cab.cnea.gov.ar.
³ Trace Element Speciation Laboratory, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE Scotland, United Kingdom.
⁴ National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), 70126 Bari, Italy.

PMID: 26595776
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.10.035

Abstract

Sodium peroxide (Na2O2) fusion coupled to Inductively Coupled Plasma Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) measurements was used to rapidly screen quartz-rich geological samples for rare earth element (REE) content. The method accuracy was checked with a geological reference material and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) measurements. The used mass-mode combinations presented accurate results (only exception being (157)Gd in He gas mode) with recovery of the geological reference material QLO-1 between 80% and 98% (lower values for Lu, Nd and Sm) and in general comparable to INAA measurements. Low limits of detection for all elements were achieved, generally below 10 pg g(-1), as well as measurement repeatability below 15%. Overall, the Na2O2/ICP-MS/MS method proved to be a suitable lab-based method to quickly and accurately screen rock samples originating from quartz-rich geological areas for rare earth element content; particularly useful if checking commercial viability.

Keywords: ICP-MS; INAA; Quartz; Rare earth elements; Sodium peroxide.