Differential Fluorescence Monitor for Elements of Adjacent Atomic Number butGrossly Different Concentrations

摘要

The research successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using energy-dispersiveX-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) methods to accurately measure small concentrations (approximately 1%) of an element in a sample whose composition is dominated (>90%) by an element of similar but higher atomic number (Z). Advantages of EDXRF over other analytical techniques (e.g., atomic absorption, neutron activation analysis, and wet chemical techniques) are that it is sensitive to many elements, is nondestructive, requires relatively simple instrumentation, and is relatively safe and inexpensive. A method for accurately measuring small concentrations of manganese in the presence of large concentrations of iron could be of potential use in steel-grade verification. Advantages of the specific EDXRF method we propose are that items could be tested nondestructively, relatively inexpensively, and in the field as well as in the laboratory.