Chemical separation and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometric determination of seventeen trace metals in thorium oxide matrix using a novel extractant – Cyanex-923

Abstract Comprehensive studies have been carried out on the extraction behaviour of thorium matrix vis-a-vis 17 trace metallic elements using a novel extractant viz. Cyanex-923. The near total extraction of thorium and quantitative separation of these metals has been established using inductively coupled argon plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP–AES). The recovery of few representative elements has been confirmed by radio-active tracer studies. The studies carried out here have enabled determination of μg/l amounts of all analyte elements with a precision of better than 1% RSD with prior chemical separation from as low as 1 g thorium sample in just five chemical extractions.