Papers by Keyword: X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)

Abstract: The parts of jawbones and selected teeth (malleolus) of adult marine benthic fish Sparus aurata and Diplodus sargus was collected from different station during east Adriatic coast (Croatia). Biominerals were prepared for three different instrumental analyses: elemental analysis by X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-AES); mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD).The XRF results showed major and traces elements incorporated in the fish teeth. The concentration of zinc (Zn) expressed in mg kg^-1 in the enamel - outside part of the malleolus dental surface (teeth crown) varied from 77 up to 1.975 in both fish species. In the root of the same teeth samples of Zn concentration was lower and amounted from 77 - 153 mg kg^-1. Contrary, maximal amount of strontium (Sr) was registered in the teeth root from 801 – 1.310 mg kg^-1, and in the enamel 476 – 1.104 mg kg^-1 respectively. Multivariate statistical analysis based on the Statistica 6.0. PCA has been used to determine differences among elemental composition of the major and trace elements in teeth enamel (crown) and teeth roots, and in examining correlation among incorporated elements and environmental characteristics of the sampling localities.The XRD patterns of both fish jawbones and malleolus teeth showed characteristic hydroxyapatite lines (HAP). The HAP lines of the fish jawbones are broadened and shifted on the higher angles, indicating that mandible and maxilla biominerals are not fully formed and that mineralization of the fish jawbones is a dynamic process that last permanently during organism growth.Selected elements contents Ni, Co, Fe, Cu, and Cr (expressed in mg kg^-1) of bulk fishbone samples was determined by ICP-AES analysis. Investigated metals showed higher values in the teeth than in the fish jawbones. The results revealed the distribution of the heavy metals in teeth to be Fe > Cr > Cu > Ni > Co, and in the jaws Fe > Cr > Cu > Ni > Co.The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of using XRF for the routine determination of heavy metals in the fish biominerals, in biomonitoring studies and ecological evaluation of the environment. The over-all data obtained indicated that XRF and ICP-AES showed good agreement for the determination of the heavy metals in test samples and that XRF could be used as cost effective method of accurately and precisely determining heavy metals content of the biomineral, while drastically reducing analysis time for initial sample preparation.

Abstract: It’s quite often that dispensing a topping material like concrete crystalline penetration sealer materials onto the surface of a plastic substance such as concrete to extend its service life span by surface protections from outside breakthrough. When applied to concrete it reacts with calcium hydroxide and reduces the porosity and permeability of the concrete matrix. This serves to increase the hardness and chemical resistance which, in turn, increases the service life span of the surface. A series of tests, such as rapid chloride permeability test, scanning electron microscope, and mercury intrusion porosimetry, were performed on the concrete test samples to examine the durability, by taking the penetration depth of concrete crystalline penetration sealer materials as a characterization parameter describing the durability in relation to water resistance. The penetration depth is a critical property for concrete crystalline penetration sealer materials to function effectively. The deeper the penetration, the greater the thickness of concrete strengthened, thus improving wear resistance, the life span and durability. The desirable depth drawn from tests is about 10mm with a minimum of 5mm. However the regular attainment of such penetration will require considerable care in surface preparation and in assuring that the concrete is properly dry. The quality of the concrete will also be a major factor in the depth of penetration obtained. Penetration depths may be greater with poor quality porous concrete while a 10mm depth may not be possible with high-quality dense concrete. Other Factors affecting concrete sealer penetration depth are related to the process, such as coverage and application, a user who should understand how it works, and material itself, having its own image.

Abstract: Nowadays, its more common of dispensing a topping material like concrete crystalline penetration sealer materials (CSM) onto the surface of a plastic substance such as concrete to extend its service life span by surface protections from outside breakthrough. Its known as the CSM may penetrate into the existing pores or possible cracks in such a way that it may form crystals to block the potential paths which provide breakthrough for any unknown materials. Even though all kinds of test data and researches have been reported to boast of its advantages in both theoretical technologies and application functions, to accept that as an agreed fact, namely the major components and those proportions have not been fully announced in public or research. This study employed various experiments, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), to identify key components of CSM for developing another type of CSM so that its components could be open for the public. There are two types of commercial CSM adopted for the tests and then thru a series of discusses of test results the most possible components of CSM are proposed as a future reference of CSM related researches.

Abstract: X-ray Fluorescence was used to determine the content of 25 inorganic elements in Chengdu dust in this article, and enrichment factor was used to analyze its distribution characteristics and source apportionment. The results showed that Cr was the extremely severe pollutant, with its average concentration of 64.57μg/g, the average enrichment factor coefficient of 477.79, which was more than 10 times higher than background value, suggested it was significantly contributed by the anthropogenic sources. Ca was the heavily polluted element, with its concentration of 7.71μg/g in average, and the average enrichment factor coefficient being 12.26, which was more than 10 times of the background value, showed it was also affected by the anthropogenic sources. The enrichment factor coefficient of Na, As, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn, K, Mg, Br, Cs was about 1 in average, illustrated that they were not obviously affected by the man-made pollution.

Abstract: This paper presents a continuous atmospheric heavy metals monitoring system (AMMS-100) for heavy metals analysis based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology. The AMMS-100 is used to collect the sample automatically with filters and then measure the concentrations of heavy metals by XRF. The accuracy of AMMS-100 for heavy metals analysis has been verified by the standard method. The relative errors, such as Pb and Fe, are lower than 10%. Moreover, the AMMS-100 can be used for long-term continuous monitoring the atmospheric heavy metals under different weather condition. The AMMS-100 described herein presents a continuous system for accurate analysis of atmospheric heavy metals with long-term stability.

Abstract: The alloy analysis of the building material of the copper hall from Taishan Mountain (TCH) is presented. First, the historical building structure of the TCH is investigated and introduced. Then the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results are given. Analysis is done based on the units of building component. The results show that about one third of the components are made in brass, and two thirds are in bronze. Further, The XRF results are loaded into geographic information system (GIS) to analyze the relation between the building components and their materials. Most of the major structural components are made in bronze, or contains relative higher Sn. Finally, the reason why TCH use both bronze and brass as building materials is discussed.

Abstract: In this paper, a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is designed to monitor the digging process of Pb contaminated soil based on contaminated site remediation. This field monitoring method is applied to the project of Pb contaminated restoration site K. A full time program is designed for XRF to monitor the exceeded standard regions of Pb pollution during the digging contaminated soil. The acceptance monitoring results show that the Pb concentration of all original exceeded points are under the limit value 260mg/kg, and reach the requirement of environmental protection. This application results show that the portable XRF was designed effectively in field monitoring on heavy metal such as Pb, which realize the purpose of quickly identification and digging of contaminated soil.

Abstract: The results of investigations of solar grade mc-Si by means of combination of scanning X-ray beam excited optical luminescence microscopy (SXEOL), X-ray beam induced current (XBIC) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) are presented. It was found, that for relatively clean sample SXEOL and XBIC provide similar information about the recombination activity of defects while for the samples with a high transition metal content there are significant differences in the provided information. The reasons of the revealed XBIC - SXEOL differences are discussed.

Abstract: Utilization of industrial and agricultural waste products in the construction industry has been the focus of research for economical and environmental reasons. In this paper, Lime sludge, a paper and pulp industry waste product, has been chemically, physically and thermally characterized, in order to evaluate the possibility of its use as construction materials. X-ray Fluorescence and X-ray diffractometry studies for the determination of composition and presence of crystalline material and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis to identify the phase transition of lime sludge, as well as physical and mechanical properties and its pozzolanic activity have been conducted. It is concluded that the acceptance of this waste product by the construction industry could be decided depending on the application, keeping in view of the limitations on the mechanical strength.

Abstract: In the last decades, numerous analytical techniques have been extensively used for the compositional analysis of objects of archaeological interest. However, on cultural heritage objects, the application of most techniques, such as AAS, XRD, ICP-MS, NAA and SEM-EDX is destructive and a significant amount of the sample is consumed. Furthermore, many of those techniques are expensive and time-demanding, mainly due to the sample preparation. In this work, LIBS is applied as an alternative technique for the qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of the black glaze and the main body of an ancient Attic black ceramic. LIBS seems to be a most promising technique for such applications, considering that no sample preparation is required and that it is practically non-destructive, since only few μg of the sample’s surface are ablated. Furthermore, it is flexible concerning the geometrical characteristics of the sample under study and it can be applied in situ, at open field, providing a rapid, user-friendly analytical tool. The study showed that both black glaze and main body of the ceramic consist of the same elements: Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, Mg, Ti and Na. This indicates that the black glaze is not a decorative paint, but originates from the same clay used for the main body after being processed differently. For the quantitative analysis, calibration curves of Fe, Ca, K, Mg, Al and Ti were constructed, by preparing stoichiometric reference samples of each element in a SiO2 matrix. All the calibration curves are presented and the restrictions for determining each element are discussed. For comparison purposes, the ceramic artifact was also studied by other techniques such as AAS, XRF, SEM-EDX and XRD. The results were correlated with the LIBS data, while the advantages as well as the limitations of each technique for the study of cultural heritage ceramics are discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first complete work to determine quantitatively the compositional differences between the black glaze and the main body of an Attic black ceramic using the LIBS technique and also to compare the LIBS data with the results of other analytical techniques.