CRM Solutions

The ColdBlock digestion system is a unique instrument  capable of rapidly dissolving materials for analysis by ICP.  The system uses infrared radiation to speed up  the digestion process and a cooling block  to condense escaping vapor.   In one of our previous  posts "How to digest 316 Stainless Steel for ICP Analysis Using the ColdBlock Digestion System"  we demonstrated the capability of the ColdBlock digestion system for dissolving stainless steel alloys.   In this post we present a method for digesting  Nickel 718 alloy using the ColdBlock system.   Nickel 718 is an austenitic nickel alloy containing significant Cr, Mo and Niobium which can make it challenging to dissolve.    

The  digestion method presented was validated using five replicate digestions of a certified reference material and then analyzed on an ICP-OES.

 Digestion Procedure

 5 separate 0.5g aliquots of CRM IARM  56H were prepared using 20ml of aqua regia in a quartz digestion tube.  The 5 digestion vessels were loaded into a 6 position ColdBlock digestion system and digested for 15 minutes at 28% power. After the digestion, 1ml of hydrogen peroxide was added to the solution and allowed to react until  completion. The digested samples were diluted to a total volume of 50ml using deionized water and transferred to a centrifuge tube.  1 ml of HF was then added to each centrifuge tube to stabilize the solution. The samples were then analyzed on a Spectro Arcos ICP-OES in our laboratory.  The results are detailed in the table below.  The reproducibility of the replicate digestions was excellent and the average values generally agree with the certified concentrations.

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                            Loading the sample                                                           Sample in Aqua Regia

                          Digestion Complete                                                                  Sample Diluted