Polonium+Deposition+on+Silver+Disc

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1. 10 ml of 0.5 M HCl is added to the digested sample and possible precipitate (silicates) is removed by filtration. The precipitate is washed with 2 x 5 ml of 0.5 M HCl and the washing solution is combined with the filtrate.

2. 3 ml of saturated hydrazine monohydrochloride solution is added. The solution is heated close to the boiling point, let to cool and another 0.5 ml of hydrazine monohydrochloride solution and 1 ml of 10% ascorbic acid is added.

3. A silver disc is washed with alcohol to remove fats. The sample solution is poured into the deposition vessel. The beaker is washed with small amount of distilled water and the rinse is poured to the deposition vessel. Water is added so that the total volume in deposition vessel is 50 ml. The sample is deposited at 60 – 65 o C (water bath) for 2 hours using mechanical stirrer.

4. The solution is removed from the deposition vessel. Wash the vessel once with a small amount of 0.5 M HCl. Remove the silver disc from deposition vessel and rinse well with water and ethyl alcohol. When the disc is dry, the radioactivity of 210 Po is determined by alpha spectrometry.