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Ultrapurification of archaeological lead

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Inorganic Materials Aims and scope

Abstract

Based on purification efficiency calculations for lead distillation, we developed a combined process for the ultrapurification of archaeological lead. We obtained pilot amounts of high-purity archaeological lead and PbO with the following contents of detrimental impurities: U, <2 ppb; Th, <1 ppb; Ni, Cu, Fe, Si, Ti, Mg, Al, Mn, Cr, V, Co, < 0.1 ppm; K, Ca, Zn, Cd, Ag, Sb, < 1 ppm. Lead of such purity can be used in low-background experiments as a protective shield material and in the growth of low-background PbWO4 and PbMoO4 scintillator crystals. From an isotope ratio, we were able to identify the origin of the archaeological lead.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nuclear Research, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, pr. Nauki 47, Kiev, 03680, Ukraine

    R. S. Boiko, F. A. Danevich & S. S. Nagornyi

  2. Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology National Scientific Center, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Akademicheskaya ul. 1, Kharkov, 61108, Ukraine

    V. D. Virich, G. P. Kovtun, D. A. Solopikhin & A. P. Shcherban’

  3. Semenenko Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy, and Ore Formation, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, pr. Akademika Palladina 34, Kiev, 03680, Ukraine

    T. I. Dovbush & A. I. Samchuk

  4. INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, 67010, Assergi (AQ), Italy

    S. Nisi

Authors
  1. R. S. Boiko
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  2. V. D. Virich
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  3. F. A. Danevich
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  4. T. I. Dovbush
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  5. G. P. Kovtun
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  6. S. S. Nagornyi
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  7. S. Nisi
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  8. A. I. Samchuk
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  9. D. A. Solopikhin
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  10. A. P. Shcherban’
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Correspondence to G. P. Kovtun.

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Original Russian Text © R.S. Boiko, V.D. Virich, F.A. Danevich, T.I. Dovbush, G.P. Kovtun, S.S. Nagornyi, S. Nisi, A.I. Samchuk, D.A. Solopikhin, A.P. Shcherban’, 2011, published in Neorganicheskie Materialy, 2011, Vol. 47, No. 6, pp. 722–726.

Ballast from a Greek ship sunk near the southern coast of Crimea in the Black Sea in the first century BC.

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Boiko, R.S., Virich, V.D., Danevich, F.A. et al. Ultrapurification of archaeological lead. Inorg Mater 47, 645–648 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168511060069

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168511060069

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