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Sealed Glass Tube Combustion of μg-Sized Aerosol Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

J Genberg
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University
N Perron
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University
M Olsson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University
K Stenström*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University
*
1Corresponding author. Email: kristina.stenstrom@nuclear.lu.se.

Abstract

It is important to evaluate each step in radiocarbon analysis to ensure that the whole process is as efficient and accurate as possible. Aerosol filter samples contain a myriad of carbonaceous compounds with varying resistance to oxidation. Complete combustion of the sample is thus of great importance to ensure that the graphitized sample is representative of the original filter sample. We have evaluated sealed tube combustion of μg-sized aerosol samples using different types and amounts of reagents. Successful analysis of aerosol samples as small as 20 μg C was possible following small changes to our standard on-line method. The sealed tube combustion method performs well for standard samples containing 11 μg C.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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