The Determination of Xenon in Liquid Bismuth

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a method for estimating the concentration of xenon in molten bismuth.

A direct volumetric method and a technique employing gas thermal conductivity measurement were attempted and found unsatisfactory. A successful technique was developed involving the mass-spectrographic analysis of a hydrogen sample containing the xenon extracted from the bismuth, giving a sensitivity approaching 2 × 10⁻⁹ atom Xe per atom Bi.

The latter method was applied to the determination of the solubility of xenon in bismuth at 500°C. It was found that the solubility was probably below the limit of sensitivity although there were some higher results.

A radioactive technique was employed to demonstrate that the solubility was actually below 2 × 10⁻¹⁰ atomic fraction. The high degree of surface adsorption was demonstrated using an autoradiographic technique.