This application note describes a method for determination of rhodium in catalyst oil and aqueous samples using Agilent 710 ICP-OES. The oil catalyst samples were prepared by microwave digestion and the aqueous samples were digested in nitric acid solution. The method provides good sensitivity and reproducibility and is suitable for determination of rhodium concentrations as low as 100 μg/L.
The document details a method for analyzing rhodium content in oil catalyst and aqueous samples. It highlights that an axially viewing configuration was selected over radial viewing to achieve better sensitivity, offering up to a 20-fold improvement in detection limits for low expected concentrations.
For the analysis, the Agilent 710 ICP-OES with simultaneous CCD detection was used. Oil catalyst samples required microwave digestion using a Shanghai EU Microwave Chemistry Technology Co. Ltd. model WX-4000 system, while an aqueous sample was measured directly without preparation.
The axially viewing ICP-OES was selected because it provides better sensitivity than the radially viewed configuration, with an improvement in detection limits of up to 20 fold.
The standard Rh solutions of 40 and 100 mg/L were diluted by a factor of 10 to concentrations of 4 and 10 mg/L respectively.