Boron Volatilization and Its Isotope Fractionation during Evaporation of Boron Solution

Abstract

Evaporation experiments were undertaken to determine the volatility of parts-per-million concentrations of boron in water and dilute HCl in the presence and absence of equimolar mannitol and/or cesium. Multiple 10 mL aliquots prepared identically were evaporated to various extents or just to dryness and heated 10-20 min after reaching dryness under filtered air at 60 °C. Boron was only retained quantitatively in water during evaporation and after reaching dryness in the presence of equimolar mannitol and cesium. Boron was retained quantitatively in dilute HCl solution during evaporation, without mannitol or cesium. But it could be retained when the dilute HCl just reached dryness and thereafter only in the presence of equimolar mannitol. Isotopic measurements of the evaporating solutions and residues indicate that the heavier isotope, 11 B, is preferentially lost from the nearneutral and acidic solutions examined. The results are pertinent for procedures requiring preconcentration of boron.

In situ lithium and boron isotope determinations in mica, pyroxene, and serpentine by LA-MC-ICP-MS

“…Only a few published values have resulted from an in situ method (Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry -SIMS) and to our knowledge, none on subduction-related rocks. Boron isotope measurements are mainly performed on whole-rock samples, but such measurements are difficult to perform because B is highly volatile, lost during wet chemical processing (e.g., Xiao et al, 1997) and subject to laboratory contamination (borosilicate glassware). However, few studies of B isotopes have been performed on whole-rocks related to deep subduction (e.g., Peacock and Hervig, 1999) or on serpentinites (e.g., Benton et al, 2001) The majority of the available B isotopic data on subduction zone samples have been measured by SIMS on the accessory mineral tourmaline (Nakano and Nakamura, 2001;Bebout et al, 2013;Marschall et al, 2006).…”

Determination of halogens in organic compounds by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS)

“…Deionized water was prepared by passing distilled water through a Milli-Q water system (Millipore Corporation, Bedford, MA) to a resistivity of 18 MV cm 21 and was used throughout for rinsing and solution preparations. Ultra-pure grade nitric acid (Optima, Fisher Scientific, Fair Lawn, NJ) was used throughout.…”

“…Fluorine is measured as the F 1 (m/z 18.998) ion. Medium resolution is required to resolve 19 F 1 from interference species such as 1 21 . The medium resolution (m/Dm~y4000) ICP-MS spectrum of the fluorine ion resolved from interferences at m/z 19 are given in Fig.…”

Effective elimination of isobaric ions interference and precise thermal ionization mass spectrometer analysis for boron isotope

“…So the formation of this complex in the acids solutions allows us to make use of hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids in the boron separation from natural samples. And as Xiao's [26] results, in the absence of mannitol, a significant negative shift of boron isotopic composition was observed in neutral solution and alkaline solution, but no evident isotopic fractionation of boron in acid solution. Whereas in the present of mannitol, the isotopic fractionation of boron is negligible in a neutral solution, but small negative isotopic shifts occurs in dilute HCl and alkaline solution.…”