Simultaneous determination of light rare earths in monazite sand by densitometry on thin-layer chromatograms

The determination of individual light rare-earth metals in monazite sand is described, based on TLC with a mixture of di-isopropyl ether, diethyl ether, di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate and nitric acid (8:8:0.4:0.07 v v ) as eluent. Linear densitometric calibration graphs are obtained for individual light rare-earths in the range 0.015-0.60 mug. The minimum detectable quantities of La. Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm are 9, 10, 20, 13 and 12 ng, respectively. The relative standard deviations for the determination of La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm in monazite sand were 1.8, 1.1, 5.9, 1.9 and 6.5%, respectively. Results were in good agreement with those obtained by spectrophotometry.