Matrix effect on laser desorption/ionization of uranyl nitrate solution

Conventional method of determination of burn-up of nuclear fuels after the dissolution of fuel involves the following steps: i) the separation of actinides and lanthanides from the host of fission products; ii) separation of selective burnup monitor from lanthanides; iii) analysis of the actinide and burn-up monitor by mass spectrometric analysis. This procedure is a laborious and time consuming. Earlier we have proposed a direct method for the determination of burn-up, wherein, we need to take a very small aliquot of dissolved fuel solution and the analysis could be done with the matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization method. A study of the effect of different matrices such as Tri-butyl phosphate (TBP), Nicotinic acid and Polyethylene oxide (PEO of average molecular weight 2000), on the laser desorption and ionization of uranyl nitrate solution was taken up and the results are reported here