An EDXRF analysis for elements of adjacent atomic number but Grossly different concentrations

A method to overcome difficulties inherent in quantitative analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) of samples that contain widely different concentrations of two or more elements having similar atomic numbers (Z) was investigated. The objective of this work was to develop a means to reduce the interference from the high-concentration, high-Z element to the extent that accurate measurement of the low-concentration, low-Z element is possible. The research successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using secondary fluorescers and various sources, detector filters, and source-sample-detector geometries to accomplish this objective. As an example, we showed that it is possible to accurately measure low concentrations (∼1 %) of manganese (Z = 25) in samples whose compositions are dominated (>90%) by iron (Z = 26); this capability could be useful in differentiating grades of carbon steel