Mass Spectrometry Letters

Korean Society for Mass Spectrometry (한국질량분석학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Feasibility of Using Graphite Powder to Enhance Uranium Ion Intensity in Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS)

  • Park, Jong-Ho (Nuclear Chemistry Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
  • Received : 2016.11.24
  • Accepted : 2016.12.08
  • Published : 2016.12.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

This study explored the feasibility of using a carburization technique to enhance the ion intensity of isotopic analysis of ultra-trace levels of uranium using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Prior to fixing uranium samples on TIMS filaments, graphite powder suspended in nitric acid was deposited on rhenium filaments. We observed an enhancement of $^{238}U^+$ intensity by a factor of two when carburization was used, and were able to roughly optimize the amount of graphite powder necessary for carburization. The positive shift in heating current when evaporating filaments upon carburization implies that uranium was chemically altered by carburization, when compared to normal fixation processes. The good agreement between our method and known standards down to an ultra-trace level shows that the proposed technique can be applied to isotopic uranium analysis down to abundances of ~10 pg.

Keywords

References

  1. Donohue, D. L. J. Alloy Compd. 1998, 271-273, 11. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-8388(98)00015-2
  2. Donohue, D. L.; Ciurapinski, A.; Cliff III, J.; Rudenauer, F.; Kuno, T.; Poths, J. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2008, 255, 2561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2008.07.181
  3. Magara, M.; Hanzawa, Y.; Esaka, F.; Miyamoto, Y.; Yasuda, K.; Watanabe, K.; Usuda, S.; Nishimura, H.; Adachi, T. Appl. Radiat. Isotopes 2000, 53, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0969-8043(00)00117-2
  4. Jakubowski, N.; Prohaska, T.; Rottmann, L.; Vanhaecke F. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 2011, 26, 693. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0ja00161a
  5. Esaka, F.; Magara, M.; Lee, C. G.; Sakurai, S.; Usuda, S.; Shinohara, N. Talanta, 2009, 78, 290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2008.11.011
  6. Esaka, F.; Magara, M.; Suzuki, D.; Miyamoto, Y.; Lee, C.; Kimura, T. Mass Spectrom. Letters, 2011, 2, 80-83. https://doi.org/10.5478/MSL.2011.2.4.080
  7. Ranebo, Y.; Hedberg, P.M.L.; Whitehouse, M.J.; Ingeneri, K.; Littmann, S. J. Anal. At.. Spectrom. 2009, 24, 277. https://doi.org/10.1039/b810474c
  8. Heumann, K. G.; Eisenhut, S.; Gallus, S.; Hebeda, E. H.; Nusko, R.; Vengosh, A.; Walczyk, T. Analyst 1995, 120, 1291. https://doi.org/10.1039/an9952001291
  9. Stetzer, O.; Betti, M.; Geel, J.; Erdmann, N.; Kratz, J. -V.; Schenkel, R.; Trautmann, N. Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. A 2004, 525, 582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2004.01.079
  10. Lee, C.-G..; Iguchi, K.; Esaka, F.; Magara, M.; Sakurai, S.; Watanabe, K.; Usuda, S. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2006, 45, 294-296. https://doi.org/10.1143/JJAP.45.L294
  11. Kraiem, M.; Mayer, K.; Gouder, T.; Seibert, A.; Wiss, T.; Thiele, H.; Hiernaut, J. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2010, 289, 108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2009.10.001
  12. Gaines, G.; Sims, C.; Jaffe, R.; J. Electrochem. Soc. 1959, 106, 881. https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2427168
  13. Pallmer Jr., P.; Gordon, R.; Dresser, M. J. Appl. Phys. 1980, 51, 3776. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.328167
  14. Jakopic, R.; Richter, S.; Kuhn, H.; Benedik, L.; Pihlar, B.; Aregbe, Y. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2009, 279, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2008.10.014
  15. Park, J.-H.; Choi, I.; Song, K. Mass Spectrom. Lett. 2010, 1, 17. https://doi.org/10.5478/MSL.2010.1.1.017
  16. Suzuki, D.; Saito-Kokubu, Y.; Sakurai, S.; Lee, C.-G.; Magara, M.; Iguchi, K.; Kimura, T. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2010, 294, 23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2010.04.007
  17. Park, J.-H..; Choi, I.; Park, S.; Lee, M.; Song, K. Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2012, 32, 4327.
  18. Park, J.-H. .; Jeong, K.; Song, K. Asian J. Chem. 2013, 25, 7061.
  19. Park. J.-H.; Choi, E.-J. Talanta 2016, 160, 600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2016.08.006
  20. Park. J.-H.; Jeong, K. Mass Spectrom. Lett. 2016, 7, 64. https://doi.org/10.5478/MSL.2016.7.3.64

Cited by

  1. Experimental evaluation of uranium ion signal intensity enhancement of TIMS using graphite powder deposition on uranium samples vol.316, pp.3, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5768-6