Abstract
Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry using radioisotopes has been applied to the analysis of aerosol samples. Radioisotope sources, 238Pu and55Fe, were used for the excitation of characteristic X-rays above 5 keV and below 5 keV, respectively. The spectrometer system is equipped with aSi (Li) detector whose resolution is 198 eV (FWHM) for Mn Kα X-rays. Aerosol samples were collected on glass fiber filters by means of an air sampler.
K X-rays ofS, Cl, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, ZnandBr, and L X-rays of Pb have been observed in the spectra emitted from aerosol samples. Quantitative analyses ofS, Cl, Fe, CuandPbhave been carried out. Thin polymer films containing wanted elements were made as the reference standards for the quantitative analyses. A method for the matrix correction using characteristic X-rays emitted from the glass fiber filter is proposed. This method, which is useful for samples of medium thickness, was applied for correcting X-ray intensities ofSandCl.As the experimental results, atmospheric concentrations of above elements in aerosol samples range in 0.9-5.2 /μg/m3forS, 0.2-6.4 μg/m3forCl, 0.6-7.0μg/m3forFe, 0.03-0.24 μg/m3for Cu and 0.10-0.70, μg/m3 for Pb, respectively. Analytical results forCuandPbrelate to results obtained by atomic absorption forCuand polarography forPb, with average differences of 0.063 μg/cm2for the concentration range from 0.2 to 2.0 μg/cm2ofCuand 0.36 μg/cm2for the concentration range from 0.6 to 6 μg/cm2ofPb, respectively.
