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An inter-laboratory study was performed by some National Metrology Institutes in order to take a snap shot of the comparability and the capability of performing purity assessments of high purity materials as needed for providing national standards for elemental determination. The measurand was defined as the value of the sum of the mass fractions of Ag, Al, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn in the bulk of a high purity nickel material and the interim results for the six individual impurities. Whereas for the analytes Ag, Al, Cu and Fe there was no agreement within the target uncertainty of 30%, agreement could be achieved for Pb and Zn. The discrepancies observed for the individual analytes resulted in a variation of a factor of 8 of the reported values for the impurity of nickel with respect to the six defined metallic analytes. The reference measurements using IDMS and for Al using GD-MS confirmed the lower reported values.
In Germany a system of primary amount of substance standards for elemental analysis is being developed, which forms the material´s basis for the National Standards for element determination. The metrological concept and technical approach is briefly described. The objective of traceability in chemistry, in this case for elemental determination, is illustrated on the example of copper.
Within the Working Group on Inorganic Analysis (IAWG) of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) international key comparisons and pilot studies related to inorganic analysis are carried to ensure consistency in this field at the highest level. Some of these comparisons deal directly with the preparation and characterization of monoelemental solutions or with topics, closely related. The importance of monoelemental solutions lies in the fact that almost every measurement in inorganic analysis relies on the comparison with either a reference material, or references in form of solutions, usually (mono)elemental solutions. All quantitative measurement approaches, e.g. isotope dilution or standard addition, need an accurate reference solution made from a well characterized reference material, prepared under full gravimetric control. These primary (monoelemental) solutions do not only serve as arbitrary references/calibration solutions, but they also link up measurement results to the International System of units (SI), this way establishing the so-called metrological traceability to a measurement unit of the SI. Without such solutions on the highest possible level of accuracy and with the smallest possible associated uncertainties (for e.g. element content and/or impurities), an analysis itself can never be as good as it could be with appropriate reference solutions. This article highlights select key comparisons and pilot studies dealing with monoelemental solution related topics within the IAWG from the foundation of CCQM – 25 years ago – up to latest achievements in the field of inorganic analysis.