The absorption spectra of 4f electron transitions of the neodymium complex with 8-hydroxyquinoline and octylphenol poly(ethy1ene glyco1)ether have been studied by conventional and third-derivative spectrophotometry. The absorption spectrum for neodymium at 575 nm is resolved into three bands centring at 572,580 and 584 nm, respectively. The use of third-derivative spectra both eliminates the interference from other rare earth elements and enhances the sensitivity for neodymium. Beer's law is obeyed for 0-14 pg cm-3 of neodymium. The corresponding value of Sandell's sensitivity is 0.29 pg cm-2. The relative standard deviations evaluated from 11 independent determinations of 2.0 pg of neodymium are 0.87% for neodymium alone and 1.6% in the presence of 80 pg of lanthanum. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 2) is 0.12 pg cm-3 of neodymium. A method for the direct determination of neodymium in mixtures of rare earth elements with good accuracy and selectivity, is described.
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