IRIDIUM ISOTOPE RATIO MEASUREMENTS BY NEGATIVE THERMAL IONIZATION MASS-SPECTROMETRY AND ATOMIC-WEIGHT OF IRIDIUM

A technique of negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry (NTI-MS) for the precise iridium isotope ratio determination is presented. IrO2- and IrO3- ions are formed in a double-filament (Pt) ion source using (NH4)2IrCl6 as a sample compound. The IrO2- ion current always exceeds the IrO3- current by a factor of about 50-300 depending on the filament temperature and the oxygen gas introduced into the ion source. IrO2- ion currents of more than 10(-11) A can be obtained at the detector side from 100 ng iridium samples. The relative standard deviation of the Ir-191/Ir-193 ratio determination is 0.06%, which is much better than the data quoted in past literature. From such data the atomic weight of iridium could be calculated to be 192.21661 +/- 0.00029. This value is a great improvement when compared with the iridium atomic weight of 192.22 +/- 0.03 recommended by IUPAC. Additionally, an NTI-MS technique has been developed which allows the simultaneous measurement of iridium and osmium isotope ratio from osmiridium samples without any chemical separation. The iridium isotope ratios of three osmiridium samples agree well with the ratios determined from the hexachloroiridate compound. The direct Os-190/Os-186 determination from osmiridium samples opens the possibility of studying the evolution of osmium in the Earth's mantle due to the radioactive decay of Re-187 into Os-187.