Determination of aluminum in bovine liver SRM 1577c by Instrumental Cold Neutron Activation Analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis may need to correct for matrix interferences caused by fast neutron induced threshold reactions. The very low Al mass fraction in bovine liver Standard Reference Material (SRM) has eluded certification due to such complications. Cold neutron beam irradiation absent fast neutrons provides a possible alternative, which has been applied for the first time to determine Al in bovine liver SRM 1577c. The Al mass fraction was determined to be (0.80 ± 0.15) mg/kg using the traditional single peak-fitting method, and (0.78 ± 0.23) mg/kg using a new physics model-based spectral fitting method.