Determination of Lithium, Strontium and Barium in Silicates by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

The effects of major components of silicates (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum) and other elements (rubidium, cesium, strontium, barium, and boron) on the determination of lithium, strontium, and barium in acidic rocks (GSJ-JG-1, GSJ-JG-1a and USGS-GSP-1) have been studied by ICP-AES. Lithium was successfully determined in the presence of 1mg/g of aluminum and 2mg/g of boric acid by ICP-AES after the rapid decomposition of the sample in a microwave oven. Analytical results for lithium agreed well with those obtained by the standard addition method and by flame emission spectrometry. Strontium and barium were also determined without any interference, and their analytical results also agreed well with the certified values. Total time for 10 sample analyses was less than 1.5h.