title: Use of highly energetic (116 keV) synchrotron radiation for X-ray fluorescence analysis of trace rare-earth and heavy elements.
abstract: This study has revealed the advantages of the use of 116 keV X-rays as an excitation source of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses. This technique is suitable for nondestructive multielemental analyses of heavy elements such as rare-earth elements. The lowest MDL value evaluated for the bulk analysis of a JG-1 standard reference sample (granite rock) was 0.1 ppm for W for a 500 s measurement. The spectrum of standard glass samples of SRM612 demonstrated clearly resolved K-line peaks of more than 30 elements, including all the existing rare-earth elements, at 50 ppm levels. The calibration curve for the determination of a rare-earth element shows a linear relation between the XRF intensity and concentrations from 10 to 0.03 ng. This powerful technique should be useful for nondestructive analyses of rare-earth and heavy elements in geological, geochemical and archaeological samples as well as industrial materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Science University of Tokyo, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan. inakai@ch.kagu.sut.ac.jp
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itou
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D008674:Metals, Rare Earth / Q000032:analysis*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008674:Metals, Rare Earth; D014131:Trace Elements