Radiochemical neutron activation analysis of trace impurities in high purity titanium and tungsten

Abstract

Summary Rapid radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA) procedures were developed and employed to the determination of 36 trace impurities in high purity titanium and tungsten. Anion–exchange column chromatography procedures were developed for the sequential group chemical separation of various elements, which helped in reducing the spectral interferences and improving the sensitivity of the method. The procedure is simple and requires a very short time to separate the elements in three groups for radiometric assay. To determine very low contents of uranium and thorium, 239Np and 233Pa as activation products were separated using anion–exchange and coprecipitation methods. The impurity contents were found to be low; therefore, their deleterious effects would be negligible.