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PUBLICATIONS

DETERMINATION OF ALUMINUM IN BOVINE LIVER SRM 1577C BY INSTRUMENTAL COLD NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Published

Author(s)

Rolf L. Zeisler, Danyal J. Turkoglu, Nicholas Sharp, Huaiyu Chen-Mayer

Abstract

Traditional instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) subjects a sample to in- or near- reactor irradiation to determine concentrations of trace and major elements in a variety of matrices. Depending on the facility-specific neutron spectrum for INAA, fast neutron content may be significant enough to induce threshold reactions that cause matrix interferences. The Al mass fraction in bovine liver Standard Reference Material (SRM) has eluded certification due to its very low concentration and interference caused by fast neutron reactions with phosphorous. Irradiating the sample with a cold neutron beam without the significant presence of fast neutrons obviates interference corrections and the error associated with it. In this work, Instrumental Cold Neutron Activation Analysis (ICNAA) has been applied for the first time to determining sub-mg/kg Al in samples of bovine liver SRM 1577c. The validity of the measurement was examined by determining the concentration of two certified elements, Cu and Mn. Samples were irradiated by a cold neutron beam and transferred to a high-efficiency gamma spectrometer with two high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. Due to the poor statistics for the Al peak of interest, the peak integration method played a key role in data processing. A traditional single peak fitting method and a new physics model-based peak fitting method yielded good agreement for the Al mass fraction in bovine liver at (0.80 ± 0.15) mg/kg and (0.78 ± 0.23) mg/kg, respectively. The results, in agreement with mass spectrometry measurements, suggest that ICNAA may become the independent measurement needed to certify Al concentration in SRM 1577c.
Citation
Journal of Radioanalytical Nuclear Chemistry
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07381-5
Local Download

Keywords

Neutron activation analysis, Cold Neutron beam, Fit to gamma spectrum, VRF
Reference materials, Neutron research, Materials characterization and Analytical chemistry

Citation

Zeisler, R. , Turkoglu, D. , Sharp, N. and Chen-Mayer, H. (2020), DETERMINATION OF ALUMINUM IN BOVINE LIVER SRM 1577C BY INSTRUMENTAL COLD NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS, Journal of Radioanalytical Nuclear Chemistry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07381-5, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=930399 (Accessed October 13, 2025)

Issues

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Created October 29, 2020, Updated September 29, 2025
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