Research on determination of the rare-earth content in metal phases of steel

The behavior of the rare-earth dissolved in a-Fe, of the iron-cerium intermetallic compounds and of the rare-earth inclusions in electrolytic separation process has been studied by means of counting measurements of radioactivity, the electron probe, and X-ray analysis. The experimental results show that the rare-earth sulfide and the rare-earth oxide are stable completely in the electrolytic separation process, when the composition of the electrolytic solution is 1 pct 4-methyl ammonium chloride, 5 pct triethanolamine, 5 pct glycerin, and 89 pct methyl alcohol, and the controlling anode current density is ≤100 mA/cm². But Fe-Ce intermetallic compounds and the rare-earth dissolved in a-Fe enter into electrolytic solution as ions. When the cerium ion concentration in electrolytic solution is >7.87 X 10^-5 mol/liter electrolyte, precipitates of cerium hydroxide will be formed. When the inclusions are separated quantitatively, the electrolytic solution must be filtered by using a funnel with filter paper pulp thick up to 6 mm, and not be filtered directly with single filter paper. Samples without rare-earth were remelted and a radioactive isotope¹⁴¹Ce was added to the steel. Inclusions were separated by the electrolytic method in the nonaqueous solution. The counting of 14lCe in the electrolytic solution was measured. Thus the rare-earth content in the metal phases can be calculated. Experimental results show that the rare-earth content in the metal phases increases with the total rare-earth content in steel. The rare-earth content in the metal phases of the steel was also found to increase as the aluminum content in steel was increased. This method for determining the rare-earth content in the metal phases of steel is very sensitive. The sensitivity is 10^-6 pct.