X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. XRF is widely used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals, glass, ceramics and building materials, and for research in geochemistry, forensic science and archaeology.

Basically there are two principal techniques used for sample preparation in XRF: making a fluxing digestion or pressing the sample into tablet form. Fusion is always necessary if a high degree of homogeneity is required. This sample preparation is used with Spectromelt^® A or B series products for quantitative analysis.

Pressing and tabletting the sample is required for trace analysis based on a low dissolution of the sample. Also the speed of analysis in automated sample preparation of powdered samples is highly important. For this purpose the sample preparation is performed with a grinding and tabletting aid from our Spectromelt^® C-series.