title: Determining chemical composition of materials through micro-CT images.
abstract: X-ray microtomography is a 3D non-destructive method which, through digital images, enables a view of the internal structure of samples. Recently, researchers have been extensively performing various methods in the attempt to determine the chemical composition of materials. This paper brings further insight into this matter and proposes a new experimental method for determining the internal chemical composition of samples. Using a set of standard samples, calibration curves can be created that allow to relate the average gray scale of a sample obtained through microtomographic images to the value of ρZeff(m). In this model, ρZeff(m) is the parameter that chemically characterizes a material. The exponent m is obtained by the average value obtained with standard samples, which were titanium dioxide (TiO2), calcium chloride (CaCl2), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), and calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2). For the samples scanning process, a Bruker SkyScan 1172 microCT was used for testing rocks, nylon, graphite, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and aluminum samples. The experimental results achieved by this method were consistent with the theoretical values.
authors.affiliation: Applied Nuclear Physics Laboratory (LFNA), Physics Department, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: inocente@uel.br.
authors.forename: Eduardo Inocente
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Jussiani
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, State University of Center-West, Guarapuava, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: pjlondrina@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Paulo José
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Dos Reis
authors.affiliation: Applied Nuclear Physics Laboratory (LFNA), Physics Department, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: appoloni@uel.br.
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Appoloni
keywords: Chemical composition; Density; Effective atomic number; Micro-CT images; X-ray; microtomography