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Determination of Selenium in coal fly ash via γ–γ coincidence neutron activation analysis

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An Erratum to this article was published on 03 July 2015

Abstract

The determination of selenium (Se) in fly-ash poses difficulties to the neutron activation analyst due to high Compton backgrounds as well as interference peaks from the 180Hf(n, γ)181Hf and 181Ta(n, γ)182Ta activation products. A methodology is presented to eliminate these interferences in geological samples via γ–γ coincidence. The methodology includes experimentally correcting for dead-time and random-summing. Random-coincidence gains which may lead to an over-estimation of concentration are corrected via post-acquisition analysis of the list-mode data. Calculated Se concentrations in fly-ash and other geological and biological reference materials agreed very well with the certified values.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number, 2012-DN-130-NF0001. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. We would also like to D. Porterfield from Los Alamos National Laboratory for his support and guidance for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    M. Yoho & S. Landsberger

  2. Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab, The University of Texas at Austin, Pickle Research Campus R-9000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    M. Yoho & S. Landsberger

Authors
  1. M. Yoho
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  2. S. Landsberger
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Correspondence to S. Landsberger.

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Yoho, M., Landsberger, S. Determination of Selenium in coal fly ash via γ–γ coincidence neutron activation analysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 307, 733–737 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4209-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4209-z

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