Determination of specific activity of iron-55 by spectrophotometry and liquid scintillation counting with bathophenanthroline complex

A method for determining the macroscopic amount of iron and its radioactivity (/sup 55/Fe) in radioactive corrosion products was established with a single chemical procedure. The iron was first extracted into a liquid scintillator (2,5-diphenyloxazole-xylene) as an ion associate of iron bathophenanthroline (BPT) complex and perchlorate at pH 3-8, followed by measurement of its radioactivity by a liquid scintillation counter and its absorbance by a spectrophotometer. The absorption maximum and molar absorptivity (epsilon) of the complex were 535 nm and 22,000, respectively. The system conforms to Beer's law at concentrations of up to 30 ..mu..g of iron in 10 mL of organic phase. The counting efficiency of the extracted /sup 55/Fe was found to be 60%. Although /sup 60/Co is extracted into the PPO-xylene together with /sup 5/)2%Fe, it is separated from /sup 55/Fe by back extraction with 0.005 M ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (pH 6.0) into the aqueous phase. The effects of other foreign elements and radionuclides were also examined. The proposed method was successfully applied to analysis of radioactive corrosion products. 21 references, 6 figures, 3 tables.