Breakthrough in research on antimony-copper test method

The Fire Assay Analysis Team of the Zhengzhou Institute of Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, China Geological Survey recently achieved significant results. Researchers have innovated the antimony-copper assay method and successfully achieved ultra-trace platinum group elements and gold elements in geochemical samples. . Related achievements were included in the international authoritative chemical journal "Microchemical Journal".

Platinum group elements (platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium, iridium) and gold and silver are collectively called precious metal elements and are important geochemical and environmental chemical elements. Precious metal elements are low in abundance and unevenly distributed in nature. Accurate determination of their contents has always been a problem in analytical chemistry. Although lead assay and nickel matte assay methods can achieve accurate determination of precious metal elements, they cannot achieve the platinum group. Simultaneous determination of elements and gold elements.

After continuous exploration and testing, Zhengzhou comprehensively utilized the fire assay analysis team to innovate and develop a new method of antimony-copper assay: using antimony powder-mg copper as a joint collector to achieve ultra-trace precious metals in geochemical samples Complete enrichment of elements; the retention of milligram-level antimony elements in the antimony ash blow can ensure that volatile ruthenium and osmium do not occur volatile losses; supplemented by microwave digestion and kinetic energy discrimination collision cell-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, while using standard solutions The correction method and the mathematical equation correction method correct the interference of coexisting elements. This method can accurately determine the platinum group elements and gold elements in the sample, with a detection limit of 0.005ng/g.

After verification by the national standard material, the test results of this method are consistent with the standard values, and the simultaneous and accurate determination of various precious metal elements is realized, which is of great significance to the geological prospecting of platinum group elements and the development of related new material technologies.