Zone melting as an aid to impurity determi nation by thermal analysis

Abstract

The determination of the impurity content of a sample by means of the meltingcurve method (calorimetric analysis) is often seriously hampered when solid soluble contaminants are present. Solid solutions often occur in substances purified by crystallization or extraction. A simple test on mixed crystals is described. When three or more impurities are present the relations obtainable from a melting curve are insufficiently accurate for computing the unknown concentrations and distribution coefficients to an acceptable extent. Only melting curves obtained from samples containing one or two impurities permit an exact, simple interpretation. A complex of impurities may be analysed when the sample is subjected to zone melting and a set of melting curves is obtained for parts of the ingot.