Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-1197

A spectrophotometric method for the determination of plutonium wing sodium alizarin sulfonate has been developed. The red plutonium-alizarin sulfonate color is developed in solutions having a pH of about three in the presence of a formic acid-sodium formate buffer, and the resulting absorption is measured at 530 millimicrons. Most interfering cations, particularly iron(III), are removed from the plutonium solutions by means of electrolysis using a mercy cathode. Aluminum(III), in quantities up to 3 percent of the plutonium content, may be tolerated in this procedure. Chloride and nitrate ions produce no interference over the concentration range studied, while tartrate, citrate, oxalate, and fluoride ions cause low results. The analysis of a large series of pure plutonium solutions, ranging from about 25 to 150 micrograms of plutonium in 10 milliliters, have a standard deviation of 0.92 percent for the determined plutonium content