Preparation of Synthetic Calibration Materials for Use in the Microanalysis of Oxide Minerals by Direct Fusion in High-Purity Graphite Electrodes: Preliminary Results for Quartz and Rutile |
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| Authors: | Magne Ødegård |
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| Institution: | Geological Survey of Norway, Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. e-mail: |
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| Abstract: | This paper describes a technique for the preparation of synthetic calibration materials for use in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and other microtechniques for mineral analysis. The method is based on direct fusion in high-purity graphite electrodes, and the requisite temperatures for melting are obtained by resistance heating using a welding rectifier as the power source. The technique has been tested on quartz (SiO2) and rutile (TiO2) for a relatively large range of elements, including all the rare earth elements. Different starting materials for preparation of calibration materials were studied, and it is shown that many natural materials form separate phases during fusion, resulting in unusable calibration materials for microanalysis. However, calibration materials prepared fully synthetically from oxides and/or element nitrates in solution were found to be of good homogeneity, and this preparation technique was used throughout in this work. The quality of the calibration materials for quartz and rutile was assessed by LA-ICP-MS, using Si and Ti as internal standard elements respectively. The NIST SRM 612 and 614 glass standards were used to assess the accuracy of the calibration materials for quartz. Calibration curves based on two independently prepared sets of calibration materials and the two NIST glasses are shown for a number of elements, demonstrating excellent agreement between the NIST glasses and the synthetically prepared quartz glasses. Vesicles are shown to form in the SiO2 glasses, but this does not influence their value as calibration materials, provided that a reference element is used as an internal standard. The advantages of fusion in high-purity graphite electrodes are emphasised, particularly the very high sublimation point of graphite, its very high state of purity, the very short melting and quench time, the speed and simplicity of the method, and the low risk of introducing impurities. Extension of the method to other minerals and applications is discussed. |
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| Keywords: | microanalyse minéraux étalonnage matériau synthétique fusion graphite |
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