Determination of lanthanides in rare earths concentrates by emission optical spectrography

A spectrochemical method has been developed for the determination of Y, Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd and Dy in purified lanthanum oxide; Y, La, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy in purified cerium oxide and Y, La, Sm, Eu, Gd and Dy in purified neodymium oxide. The technique consists of an almost total consumption of the sample in a 17 ampere direct current arc. The rare earth oxides are mixed with an equal amount by weight of spectrographic graphite and the electrodes are arced in an argon (80%)-oxygen (20%) atmosphere, inside a specially desingned chamber, to suppress cyanogen bands. The concentration ranges are approximatelly 0.002 - 2%, depending on the matrix and the elements to be analysed. The presicion, accuracy and acceptability of the method are calculated for all elements. The total error values are approximately in the range of 18-48%. The method was developed for quality control of the individual fractions held by pulsed and ion exchange columns in the lanthanide separations, in the Chemical Engineering Centre, Atomic Energy Institute, Sao Paulo