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Heterogeneous Materials

Examples of Heterogeneous Materials, including plated, painted dirty, “buried” or mixed substances. XRF spectrometry is generally considered a “surface” analysis. However, X-Rays can penetrate the surface to some extent, depending on the nature of the material. Light elements (e.g., C,H,N,O) are weak absorbers of the radiation and allow for deeper penetration of X-Rays compared to transition metals and elements with higher atomic numbers. If a material is not homogeneous (and if the analysis is being carried out non-destructively on an item), the XRF result will be a weighted average of the composition of the surface and interior. Similar averaging is seen for particles or components that are placed in a side-by-side arrangement. Some examples are shown below.

 

Het_Ex1-ThumbnailPartial Shielding of a Tin Disk by a 0.3 mm-Thick Copper Sheet

Het_Ex2-ThumbnailPartial Shielding of a Tin Disk by a 1/4″-Thick Pad of Paper

Het_Ex3-ThumbnailPartial Shielding of a Tin Disk by a 0.81 mm-Thick Aluminum Sheet

Het_Ex4-ThumbnailPartial Shielding of a Cadmium Coin by an Acrylic Holder

Het_Ex5-ThumbnailXRF Analysis of a Tin Disk in a 2-miL Polyethylene Bag

Het_Ex6-ThumbnailXRF Analysis of Galvanized Steel

Het_Ex7-ThumbnailXRF Analysis of Nickel-Plated Vanadium Steel

Het_Ex8-ThumbnailXRF Analysis of a Gold-Plated Tungsten Alloy

Het_Ex9_ThumbnailPlastic versus Glass:  How Filtering can Affect Ratio of La to Lb Lines

Het_Ex10-ThumbnailPieces of Pure Zinc and Copper are Seen as Brass by XRF Analyzer

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