Decreased molybdenum emission in a carbon arc caused by zirconium carbide formation on the sample electrode
✍ Scribed by J.C. Burridge; I.J. Hewitt
- Book ID
- 102622051
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1983
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 446 KB
- Volume
- 154
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0003-2670
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The presence of about 10% zirconium (as oxide) in alumina samples obtained by the ignition of aluminium 8-quinolinolate (precipitated as a trace-element collector) greatly decreased the intensity of molybdenum emission when the alumina was analysed by means of a cathode-layer carbon arc. Retention of the molybdenum on the sample electrode was confirmed with radioactive molybdenum-99. A prominent crystalline residue on the cathode, identified as ZrC by x-ray powder diffraction, was probably responsible for the decreased emission. Thus, zirconium crucibles cannot be used for the sodium carbonate fusion of samples in a spectrochemical procedure for determining traces of molybdenum in soils and plants.