Determination of boron isotopic composition in boron carbide using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)

In the present work, a simple and novel method has been developed to determine the isotopic composition of boron (¹⁰B/¹¹B) in boron carbide (B₄C) by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Peak intensities of BI atomic line and BII ionic line at 208.96 nm and 345.13 nm, respectively, are used to obtain calibration curves. The intensities of peak maxima of both lines are found to execute excellent linearity (R² > 0.995) with isotopic composition over the range 20–95 % of ¹⁰B. Further, it has been shown that calibration curves obtained from the first derivative of peak maxima are more sensitive compared to the one obtained using peak maxima. Peak shift at 345.13 nm is nearly four times more sensitive than that of 208.96 nm and so calibration plot obtained at 345.13 nm is used for analytical purpose. This method is successfully applied for estimation of isotopic composition in four synthetic mixtures and one boric acid sample. The results are compared with the values obtained by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) and found to have a good agreement between the two techniques. The present ICP-OES method for the determination of boron isotopic composition employed here is proved to be indigenous, economical, rapid and precise.