Selective absorption of bromine on columns of silver nitrate-loaded porous glass powder and its application in the neutron activation analysis of high-purity selenium

Abstract

A very simple method for the determination of bromine in selenium has been developed. The manual handling of the irradiated selenium sample is reduced to a minimum. After the placing of the sample into the dissolution flask, no further manipulation is necessary except for the transference of the⁸²Br counting sample from the dissolution apparatus to the scintillation counter.⁸²Br is very selectively absorbed on columns prepared from surface-rich porous glass powder coated with silver nitrate. More than 95% of the bromine is absorbed on the columns and the decontamination factor for⁷⁵Se is better than 10⁻⁷. Commercially available selenium brands with bromine contents down to 0.025 ppm have been analyzed.