1979 Volume 28 Issue 11 Pages 653-657
A method for the determination of selenium and tellurium in native sulfur has been investigated by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Native sulfur collected from around fumarole or volcanic crater is ground down into powder, a portion of which weighing 1 g is subjected to analysis. A 2.6% (w/v) sodium hydroxide solution is added by 10 ml to the sample in a teflon beaker, and the mixture is then heated on a hot plate. Sulfur is decomposed and dissolved in the form of disulfide and thiosulfate. A 30% hydrogenperoxide solution is added by 10 ml to oxidize them to sulfate. At the same time selenium and tellurium contained in the sulfur sample are also thought to be oxidized to Se (VI) and Te (VI) states. The solution is neutralized with hydrochloric acid and diluted with distilled water to 100 ml. The sample solution thus prepared is sprayed into the air-acetylene flame of the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The absorbance is measured at 195.9 nm for selenium and 214.2 nm for tellurium. Calibration curve is prepared by measuring the absorbances of the solutions prepared as follows. One gram portions of pure sulfur (99.9999%) are decomposed as for the samples. After neutralization, standard solutions containing each same amount of selenium and tellurium (01000μg) are added to the sulfur solution and then diluted with water to 100 ml. The standard deviations were estimated to be 50.4 ppm for selenium at 756 ppm and 16.6 ppm for tellurium at 587 ppm. For the check of the reliability of the method, results were compared with those obtained by neutron activation analysis. Results obtained by both methods showed good agreement.
