Studying the Possibility of Using Different Aerosol Filters for Neutron-Activation Analysis

Abstract

Samples of different fibrous filtering materials are considered in selecting analytical filter materials suitable for sampling atmospheric aerosols and precipitates for neutron-activation analysis: quartz fiber filters, bleached gauze, LFS-2 analytical filtering material, Petryanov filters of two kinds, and an industrial nonwoven stitched filter. The filter samples are irradiated with neutrons from an IN-LUE photoneutron source based on the linear electron accelerator at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Nuclear Research. The γ-activity of the samples is measured using a low-background gamma-spectrometer. Analysis of the activation gamma spectra corresponding to the samples of different filtering materials reveals the systematic presence of Mn, Na, and Cl (in different combinations) as their main impurities. A quartz fiber filter is the most suitable material for the neutron activation analysis. Estimates are made of the content of trace impurities in the investigated materials.