Analytical Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Measurements with a Scanty Amounts of Plant and Soil Materials

Elemental evaluations in scanty powdered material have been made using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) measurements, for which formulations along with specific procedure for sample target preparation have been developed. Fractional amount evaluation involves an itinerary of steps; (i) collection of elemental characteristic X-ray counts in EDXRF spectra recorded with different weights of material, (ii) search for linearity between X-ray counts and material weights, (iii) calculation of elemental fractions from the linear fit, and (iv) again linear fitting of calculated fractions with sample weights and its extrapolation to zero weight. Thus, elemental fractions at zero weight are free from material self absorption effects for incident and emitted photons. The analytical procedure after its verification with known synthetic samples of macro-nutrients, potassium and calcium, was used for wheat plant/ soil samples obtained from a pot experiment.