On the determination of magnium content in the triple ferrites MnFe2O4-MgFe2O4-ZnFe2O4 by the neutron activation analysis

Problems related to the determination of magnesium are considered in the case of ferrites of ternary system MnFeO4-MnFe2O4-ZnFeO4 in the presence of manganese. The Mg/Mn ratio in the samples is varied from 0.13 to 3.51. A scintillation NaI(Tl)-detector and a semiconducting Ge(Li)-detector have been used to evaluate their applicability in the determination of Mg. Repeated spectral measurements are made for two-component ferrites MgFe2O4-MnF2O4. In this case the dimension of crystals of these ferrites is varied and the irradiation period kept from 15 sec to 2 min, with cooling periods from 3 to 15 min. Ge(Li)-detector provides a better resolution power than ferrite ternary system. 24Na radioactive isotope can be used in the identification of quantitative analysis of magnesium. This isotope is formed from 24Mg via (n, p) reaction involving the use of a Cd filter. It is shown that it is impossible either with NaI(Tl) or Ge(Li)-detector, with a working volume of 5 cm3, to get a narrow spread in a quantitative analysis of Mg from the 27Mn isotope data in ferrite system ternary. The limiting Mg/Mn ratio for the determination of magnesium with the aid of Ge(Li)-detector is found to be 10