Reagents used in mineral analyses
Image - C Hedley
Bromophenol blue indicator: 1% in ethyl alcohol.
Ceramic tiles: Purchased or made to suit instrument. A possible supplier is Analytron Pty Ltd., P.O. Box 521, ACT Australia.
Citrate Reagent: 75 g C3H4(OH).(COONa)3.2H2O dissolved in 1 L of distilled water and the pH adjusted to 7.3 by addition of a few drops of saturated citric acid solution.
Clove oil: Used as supplied (light straw-coloured variety is preferable to darker varieties).
Formamide: HCONH2. Used as supplied. Sprayed from any convenient aerosol spray bottle.
Glycerol: CH2OH.CHOH.CH2OH. 10% solution in distilled water sprayed from any convenient aerosol spray bottle.
Hydrochloric acid 1:1: Concentrated HCl diluted with an equal volume of distilled water.
Hydrogen peroxide: 100 vol. Used as supplied.
Lithium chloride: 100 g LiCl dissolved in 1 L of distilled water.
Magnesium chloride: 100 g MgCl2 dissolved in 1 L of distilled water.
Potassium bromide: KBr. Used as supplied. However, the KBr used must give satisfactory blanks. Heating above 500°C is often sufficient to ensure satisfactory results.
Potassium chloride: 100 g KCl dissolved in 1 L of distilled water.
Sodium bicarbonate: 70 g NaHCO3 dissolved in 1 L of distilled water.
Sodium chloride: 350 g NaCl dissolved in 1 L of distilled water.
Sodium dithionite: Na2S2O4.H2O. Used as solid, as supplied.
Sodium polytungstate (SPT): 3Na2WO4.9WO3.H2O powder dissolved in water and density adjusted to 2.80 g cm-3 for heavy minerals, and to 2.45 g cm-3 for volcanic glass. To increase density, either add more SPT powder to the solution or evaporate water from the solution. To decrease density add water.
X-ray glass slides: (25 × 75 × 0.1 mm) microscope slides cut into 3 equal portions, i.e. 25 × 25 × 0.1 mm.