Simultaneous Determination of Sb, As, Cu, Pb and Zn in Antimony Ores by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry with a Multi-Directional Observation Mode

A new analytical method which could simultaneously determine Sb, As, Cu, Pb and Zn in antimony ores by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) with a multi-directional observation mode is reported in this paper. The samples were digested with aqua regia and the final sample solution was in a 15% aqua regia medium. The detection limits and the analytical precision for the target elements were remarkably improved by carefully choosing the spectral lines and using a multi-directional viewing mode for observation. The dilution factor was reduced by this method which improved the analytical precision for the target minor elements such as Sb and As. The detection limits of the method were 5.0 μg/g for Sb, 5.0 μg/g for As, 0.5 μg/g for Cu, 1.0 μg/g for Pb and 0.5 μg/g for Zn. The recoveries for the elements ranged from 97.5% to 102.5% with the relative standard deviations (RSD, n=12) less than 2.8%. The method has been verified to determine the National Standard Reference Materials and the results were in agreement with certified values. These results show that the method has higher sensitivity and a lower detection limit. The method is simple, rapid and accurate to meet the analytical requirement for determination of the Sb, As, Cu, Pb and Zn in antimony ore samples.