Quantitative determination of tantalum and niobium in tantalum-niobium ore using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Tantalum-niobium (Ta-Nb) ore is the main source of two very important rare metals,Ta and Nb. However, it is still a challenge for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to quantitatively detect trace Ta and Nb elements in Ta-Nb ore samples. In this work, LIBS assisted with univariate and multivariate calibration methods that were used to quantitatively determine Ta and Nb elements under optimized experimental parameters, such as delay time, gate width, and analytical lines. The results show that LIBS with multivariate calibration methods is a feasible method, and the limit of detection of Ta and Nb elements was 59.21 and 8.02  μg g, respectively. It provides a promising way for the rapid and sensitive quantitative detecting of trace Ta and Nb elements in Ta-Nb ore samples.