Many companies often do not know the whole analytical chain before making huge investments in state-of-the-art XRF equipment. To obtain precise and accurate analytical results and subsequently estimate financial pay-offs, the weighing step in sample preparation before fusion is critical.
Manufacturers can decrease the level of uncertainty associated with the concentrations of its products through precise and accurate results, therefore avoiding huge losses in revenue.
The exact weights of the sample and the flux (sample-to-flux ratio) are required for the weighing step in sample preparation by fusion for XRF analysis. The quality of analytical results given by the spectrometer is affected by the weighing method, the tolerance accepted and the analytical method used to obtain this ratio.
There are several different ways to weigh the sample and the flux before fusion:
- Manual weighing (most widespread technique)
- Automated weighing (for example, using Claisse® LeDoserTM or LeDoser-12TM)
- Directly weigh the sample and the flux in the platinum (Pt) crucible
- Weigh the sample or the flux in another container, then transfer it into the Pt crucible
- Pre-weighed flux vials
- Use the XRF instrument for weight correction (requires the exact weight to be known)
The precision of the sample-to-flux ratio, and thus the final analytical results are affected by all of these weighing methods. Each of the tested weighing methods is described in Table 1, along with the corresponding abbreviation used in the text. This work compares the effect of the different weighing methods on the precision (RSD) of the obtained XRF results.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Malvern Panalytical.
For more information on this source, please visit Malvern Panalytical.