Determination of thorium and uranium in nickel-based alloy by ICP-MS after matrix separation using copolymer of ethylene glycol methacrylate and bis (2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl) phosphate

Nickel based alloys are of increasing technological importance for high temperature applications such as aircraft engine turbine blades. However, certain trace elemental impurities can have a deleterious effect on the mechanical properties of the alloy; therefore, lower possible levels are continually being demanded. Among the trace elemental impurities, uranium and thorium require great attention due to the emission of ionizing alpha particles and thus their allowable limits are < 2 ppm. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is commonly used method for the determination of uranium and thorium in various materials including metal alloys.; however it requires availability of nuclear reactor for irradiation of samples which has very limited access which necessitate development of a simple, reliable and robust analytical method for accurate determination of U and Th in nickel-based alloys. To the best of our knowledge, no chemical is available in the literature for the accurate determination of U and Th in nickel-based alloys and hence the present work was undertaken. Among the analytical techniques, ICP-MS is widely accepted due to its multi-element capability, high sensitivity, wide dynamic range and of analysis and hence selected for the determination of Th and U in the present study