Determination of fluorine in copper concentrate via high-resolution graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry and direct solid sample analysis – Comparison of three target molecules

Abstract

The chemical composition of complex inorganic materials, such as copper concentrate, may influence the economics of their further processing because most smelters, and particularly the producers of high-purity electrolyte copper, have strict limitations for the permissible concentration of impurities. These components might be harmful to the quality of the products, impair the production process and be hazardous to the environment. The goal of the present work is the development of a method for the determination of fluorine in copper concentrate using high-resolution graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry and direct solid sample analysis. The molecular absorption of the diatomic molecule CaF was measured at 606.440nm. The molecule CaF was generated by the addition of 200µg Ca as the molecule-forming reagent; the optimized pyrolysis and vaporization temperatures were 900°C and 2400°C, respectively. The characteristic mass and limit of detection were 0.5ng and 3ng, respectively. Calibration curves were established using aqueous standard solutions containing the major components Cu, Fe, S and the minor component Ag in optimized concentrations. The accuracy of the method was verified using certified reference materials. Fourteen copper concentrate samples from Chile and Australia were analyzed to confirm the applicability of the method to real samples; the concentration of fluorine ranged from 34 to 5676mgkg−1. The samples were also analyzed independently at Analytik Jena by different operators, using the same equipment, but different target molecules, InF and GaF, and different operating conditions; but with a few exceptions, the results agreed quite well. The results obtained at Analytik Jena using the GaF molecule and our results obtained with CaF, with one exception, were also in agreement with the values informed by the supplier of the samples, which were obtained using ion selective electrode potentiometry after alkaline fusion. A comparison will also be made for the three target molecules and the three independently developed methods for the determination of fluorine, although all three methods used direct solid sample analysis.