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Microanalysis and signature of rare earth elements in geochemical samples using neutron activation analysis

  • Mohamed F. Attallah ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Fatma S. Abdou und Hisham F. Aly
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 26. Januar 2021
Radiochimica Acta
Aus der Zeitschrift Radiochimica Acta Band 109 Heft 3

Abstract

Nuclear techniques are applied for exploration and efficient tapping of natural resources in finding promising resources of mining and mineral processing industries. The rare earth elements (REEs) in four fluorite samples, collected from Nuba Mountains are determined using neutron activation analysis (NAA) technique. The concentration of 11 REEs (Sc, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Tb, Yb, Lu) was measured and found within ranges between 685 and 1747 ppm. The Ca is a major element in the four samples. The Fe, Al, Na, Ba and Sr are found as minor elements in the investigated samples. In addition, tracer levels of U, Th, Cs, V and Sc are also detected. The signature of Ce, La and Nd as light REEs is characterized in all samples under this study. The enrichment types of light-REEs (L-type), medium-REEs (M-type) and several distinct features of some REEs e.g., Ce and Eu anomalies are identified and described as the signature of REEs in the geochemical samples. These results have demonstrated promising materials that could be used for hydrometallurgy processing to get significant amounts of REEs.

Keywords: instrumental neutron activation analysis; nuclear techniques; rare earth elements; trace analysis
Corresponding author: Mohamed F. Attallah, Analytical Chemistry and Control Department, Hot Laboratories Center, Atomic Energy Authority of Egypt, P.O. Box 13759, Cairo, Egypt, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express special thanks to Prof. Dr. S. M. Qaim, the Editor-in-chief of Radiochimica Acta, for his valuable efforts and comments to improve our paper. The authors are extended appreciation and thanks express their gratitude to the crew of second Egyptian Nuclear Research Reactor (ETRR-2) at the EAEA for their valuable assistance in the course of activation of the studied samples in due time.

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: None declared.

  3. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2020-0101).

Received: 2020-09-25
Accepted: 2021-01-10
Published Online: 2021-01-26
Published in Print: 2021-03-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Papers
  3. Gas phase synthesis of 4d transition metal carbonyl complexes with thermalized fission fragments in single-atom reactions
  4. Extraction of tetra- and hexavalent actinide ions from nitric acid solutions using some diglycolamide functionalized calix[4]arenes
  5. Uranyl oxalate species in high ionic strength environments: stability constants for aqueous and solid uranyl oxalate complexes
  6. Comparative study on aqueous acid free UO2 dissolution-extraction using DHOA adduct into room temperature ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide/n-hexane
  7. Determination of trace uranium in thorium matrix by laser induced fluorimetry after separation of thorium by its fluoride precipitation using NH4HF2
  8. Development of a fast characterization setup for radionuclide generators demonstrated by a 227Ac-based generator
  9. Purification of 89Sr from FBTR irradiated Yttria target by extraction chromatography using HDEHP impregnated XAD-7 resin
  10. Microanalysis and signature of rare earth elements in geochemical samples using neutron activation analysis
https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2020-0101
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
instrumental neutron activation analysis; nuclear techniques; rare earth elements; trace analysis

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Papers
  3. Gas phase synthesis of 4d transition metal carbonyl complexes with thermalized fission fragments in single-atom reactions
  4. Extraction of tetra- and hexavalent actinide ions from nitric acid solutions using some diglycolamide functionalized calix[4]arenes
  5. Uranyl oxalate species in high ionic strength environments: stability constants for aqueous and solid uranyl oxalate complexes
  6. Comparative study on aqueous acid free UO2 dissolution-extraction using DHOA adduct into room temperature ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide/n-hexane
  7. Determination of trace uranium in thorium matrix by laser induced fluorimetry after separation of thorium by its fluoride precipitation using NH4HF2
  8. Development of a fast characterization setup for radionuclide generators demonstrated by a 227Ac-based generator
  9. Purification of 89Sr from FBTR irradiated Yttria target by extraction chromatography using HDEHP impregnated XAD-7 resin
  10. Microanalysis and signature of rare earth elements in geochemical samples using neutron activation analysis
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