Determination of ten lanthanoids in chondritic meteorites by radiochemical neutron activation analysis using coaxial and planar type pure Ge detectors

In order to determine the trace amounts (3 ng-100 ng) of lanthanoids in chondritic meteorites, new and convenient analytical procedures of radiochemical neutron activation method were presented. Applying these procedures to Antarctic meteorites, a total of ten lanthanoids (La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Tm, Yb, and Lu) were precisely determined in a sample of 50-100 mg. Considering several error sources such as counting statistics, collection of interferences, and determination of chemical yield, magnitude of overall error was estimated for each element.