Determination of mercury, indium and tellurium in mercury indium telluride

Abstract

Methods are given for the determination of mercury, indium and tellurium in a sample of mercury indium telluride. No prior separations are necessary and interferences that occur can readily be masked or compensated for. The sample is dissolved in a nitric acid-hydrochloric acid mixture. Indium and tellurium are examined polarographically in an electrolyte consisting of 2 M ammonium acetate-2 M acetic acid solution; for the determination of indium, the standard solution must contain an equivalent amount of tellurium. For the determination of tellurium in electrolytes consisting of 2 M ammonium acetate-2 M acetic acid or 0·5 M sodium carbonate solution, the indium can readily be masked by EDTA. Mercury is determined spectrophotometrically at 500 nm as the extracted dithizone complex. During dissolution of the sample, evaporation to dryness must be avoided as considerable amounts of mercury and tellurium may be lost. Accuracies in the region of ±1 per cent. are obtained on sample masses of 2 mg, although smaller samples can be examined without loss of accuracy.