Simultaneous determination of platinum group elements and rhenium in rock samples using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after cation exchange separation followed by solvent extraction Original Research Article

A simple and precise determination method for platinum group elements (PGEs) and Re in rock samples was developed using isotope dilution coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). Cation exchange separation was employed for simplicity, because it is applicable to group separation and simultaneous isotopic measurement in contrast with the widely used anion exchange separation which entails separate elution. However, its application to ID-ICP-MS has been limited due to spectral interferences from impurities retained in the PGE fraction even after ion chromatography. To overcome this limitation, solvent extraction using N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) in chloroform was successfully applied for further purification.