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    A feasibility study for the measurement of the 30Si mole fraction of the AVO28 material by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

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    The possibility of using neutron activation to experimentally determine the 30Si mole fraction of the ultra-pure silicon AVO28 material highly enriched in 28Si that being used for the determination of the Avogadro constant has been investigated. Specifically, a 6 g sample of a natural silicon material (WASO04) was irradiated and measured to model the expected signal that would be produced in a sample of the AVO28 material of similar mass and subjected to the same experimental conditions. Data from this experiment has been used to evaluate the contributions which are expected to dominate the measurement uncertainty. The measurement of the 30Si mole fraction of the AVO28 material by neutron activation appears to be feasible and the provisional relative uncertainty is evaluated to be about 3%

    Instrumental neutron activation analysis of an enriched 28Si single-crystal

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    The determination of the Avogadro constant plays a key role in the redefinition of the kilogram in terms of a fundamental constant. The present experiment makes use of a silicon single-crystal highly enriched in 28Si that must have a total impurity mass fraction smaller than a few parts in 109. To verify this requirement, we previously developed a relative analytical method based on neutron activation for the elemental characterization of a sample of the precursor natural silicon crystal WASO 04. The method is now extended to fifty-nine elements and applied to a monoisotopic 28Si single-crystal that was grown to test the achievable enrichment. Since this crystal was likely contaminated, this measurement tested also the detection capabilities of the analysis. The results quantified contaminations by Ge, Ga, As, Tm, Lu, Ta, W and Ir and, for a number of the detectable elements, demonstrated that we can already reach the targeted 1 ng/g detection limit

    The use of neutron activation analysis for particle size fractionation and chemical characterization of trace elements in urban air particulate matter

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    The concentration of more than 25 trace elements have been determined in total air particulate matter and in the size segregated fractions from the urban area of Pavia (North Italy). The PM10 fraction was also collected and analyzed. A study of the solubility in water and in physiological solution of the trace elements contained in the PM10 was also carried out. The resulting solutions were further submitted to column chromatography using Chelex 100 to perform a preliminary chemical characterization. INAA was used as the main analytical technique. ET-AAS was used for all Ph and Cd measurements and, in some cases, for the analysis of V, Mn, Cu and Ni
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