Highly accurate analysis of soft magnetic alloys by automated sample digestion and simultaneous ICP-OES.

A study has been made of the feasibilities of automatic microwave-heated acid digestion and simultaneous inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for highly accurate analysis of soft magnetic alloys. The results of the analysis of a nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloy for Fe, B, Si, Cu and Nb were compared to those obtained by the classical chemical analysis methods. It can be shown that the automated digestion and simultaneous ICP-OES fulfil the accuracy requirements in most cases. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the analysis by automated digestion and simultaneous ICP-OES is considerably faster and has a reduced chemical consumption.