| Abstrakt: |
This paper reviews techniques for determining B concentration and isotopic ratio and their application to soil and plant samples. Boron concentration has been determined utilising spectrophotometry, potentiometry, chromatography, flame atomic emission and absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) optical emission (OES) and mass spectrometry (MS), and neutron activation analysis using neutron radiography and prompt--gamma activation analysis. Isotopic ratios of Bhave been measured by ICP-MS, thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). For isotopic measurements, TIMS and SIMS are more sensitive and provide higher degrees of accuracy and resolution than ICP-MS, however, extensive sample preparation and purification, and time-consuming measurements limit theirusefulness for routine analyses. While the spectrophotometric technique using a colorimetric reaction of B with azomethine-H has been themost extensively applied B determination method for soil and plant samples, colorimetric methods, in general, suffer from numerous interferences and have poor sensitivity and precision. The prompt--gamma method can determine B concentration in intact samples which enables this method to be especially useful for some applications in agriculture. Research involving B behaviour in plant and soil environments would benefit from this technology. In recent years, the use of ICP-OES and ICP-MS for B determination in plant and soil samples has grown tremendously. The application of ICP-OES brought a significant improvement in B analysis because of its simplicity, sensitivity and multielement detection capability. However, besides matrix interferences, the two most sensitive emission lines for B suffer strong spectral interference from Fe. The ICP-OES is not adequately sensitive for some nutritional work involving low B concentrations and B translocation studies using the isotope tracer technique. Plasma is one of the most effecti [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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