Separating Ag, B, Cd, Dy, Eu, and Sm in a Gd matrix using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester...

The separation procedure for Ag, B, Cd, Dy, Eu and Sm as impurities in Gd matrix using ICP-AES technique with an extraction chromatographic column has been developed. The spectral interference of the Gd matrix on the elements was eliminated using a chromatography technique with 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (PC-88A) as the mobile phase and XAD-16 resin as the stationary phase. Ag(+), B(4)O(7)(2-), and Cd(2+) were eluted with 0.1M HNO(3), while rare earth ions were not. The best eluent for separating Eu and Sm in the Gd matrix was 0.3M HNO(3). The limit of quantitation for these elements was 0.6-3.0ng mL(-1). The recovery of Ag, B, and Cd was 90-104% using 0.1M HNO(3) as the eluent, while that of Eu, Gd, and Sm ranged from 100 to 102% with 0.3M HNO(3). Dy was recovered quantitatively with 4M HNO(3). The relative standard deviation of the methods for a set of three replicates was between 1.0 and 15.4% for the synthetic and standard Gd solutions. The proposed separation procedure was used to measure Ag, B, Cd, Dy, Eu, and Sm in a standard Gd solution.