Detection of trace-level uranium and samarium in glasses by combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and plasma-induced fluorescence spectroscopy

Lei Liu (1) , Shuo Li (2) , Xi Huang (1) , Yao Lu (1) , Kevin Chen (2) , Raphaël Pik (3) , Lan Jiang (4) , Jean-François Silvain (5) , Yong Feng Lu (1)

1 University of Nebraska–Lincoln
2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering [Pittsburgh]
3 CRPG - Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques
4 BIT - Beijing Institute of Technology
5 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux

Detection of uranium and samarium in zircon glasses by combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and plasma-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (PIFS) was studied in this work. A standard LIBS system with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm was used to induce plasmas. LIBS spectra were used to identify the major elements in the target. For trace-level uranium and samarium elements, their atomic or ionic signals could be submerged in the background signals or suffer from spectral interference. Fluorescence spectra induced by plasma emission from the solid targets were then used to indicate the existence of uranium and samarium. This combined analysis provides the advantages of using fluorescence emission from solids without the limitation of laser wavelengths in the UV-Vis range and the capability of detecting uranium and samarium in zircon glasses with high sensitivity. The achieved limits of detection for uranium and samarium elements in this study are 154 and 6 ppm, respectively.

Domaines: Chimie analytique; Matériaux

Lei Liu, Shuo Li, Xi Huang, Yao Lu, Kevin Chen, et al.. Detection of trace-level uranium and samarium in glasses by combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and plasma-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 2015, 30 (5), pp.1128-1132. ⟨10.1039/c5ja00020c⟩. ⟨hal-01153607⟩