XRF spectrometry based on the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays as primary radiation from an X-ray tube. In this process, electrons are ejected from the inner shells, creating vacancies, which present an unstable condition for the atom. As the atom returns to its stable condition, electrons from the outer shells are transferred to the inner shells and give off a characteristic x-ray whose energy is the difference between the two binding energies of the corresponding shells. Since each element has a unique set of energy levels, each element produces x-rays at a unique set of energies, allowing non-destructively measure the elemental composition of the sample. In a wavelength dispersion X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer these fluorescence X-rays are collimated into a parallel beam and dispersed into a spectrum through diffraction by a synthetic analyzing crystal, passing then to an X-ray detector.

The laboratory is equipped with a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, BRUKER S4 Pioneer, with a maximum power of 4 kW. The spectrometer has an Rh anode X-ray tube (60 kV, 150 mA); three analyzer crystals (OVO-55, LiF 200 and PET); two collimators, 0.23º and 0.46º; Pb, Cu, and Al beam filters; and a flow proportional counter for light element detection and a scintillation counter for heavy elements. The Integrated Analytical Intelligence (IAI) of SPECTRAplus, the analytical X-ray fluorescence (XRF) software solution for calibration, evaluation and reporting, offers easy start-up for own calibrations, providing optimized measurement parameters and allowing easy routine operation. The integrated standardless evaluation for all kind of samples like rocks, minerals, metals, hydrocarbons and all kind of industrial products allows the fast and easy determination of element concentrations from 100 % down to the ppm-level without performing a calibration.



Sample preparation equipments include

• Automatic hydraulic press (MIGNON S, NANNETTI), to prepare pressed pellets

• Fusion machine (Vulcan 4M, FLUXANA-HD-ELEKTRONIK), to prepare fused beads