Preparation of primary reference material of argon in oxygen by the gravimetric method for application to thermometry

Three mixtures of argon in oxygen with (1000, 350, 120) μmol mol−1 amount fractions of argon were prepared by the gravimetric method for application to thermometry. The mixtures are to be used to study the effects of argon impurity in oxygen on the temperature of the triple point of oxygen. From an uncertainty assessment compliant with the international standards, the relative uncertainty of the amount fraction of argon in the two-step dilution method used in this work ranged from 0.040% to 0.072%. The uncertainty was dominated by the uncertainties in weighing the mass of argon in the pre-mixture and weighing the mass of the pre-mixture in the final mixture. The internal consistency of the amount fraction of argon given by the gravimetric method was verified to be within 0.025% by measurements via gas chromatography with a thermal conductivity detector. The resultant uncertainty in the amount fraction of argon corresponds to less than 5 μK in the effect of argon impurity on the triple point of oxygen. Therefore, the mixtures have sufficient precision for the thermal study of the argon-in-oxygen mixtures.