Preparation of calibrating standards for x-ray fluorescence spectrometry of trace metals in plastics

Abstract

Convenient x-ray fluorescent spectrometry was developed for the determination of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Ge and Sb in plastic materials. The calibrating standards were prepared by casting of polyurethane or polyester including a xylene solution of organometallic compounds as a standard. The calibrating disk had a homogeneous elemental distribution and excellent durability. The calibration curves of six elements showed a good linearity of less than 50 mass ppm for V and Ni, 100 mass ppm for Co and Ge, 200 mass ppm for Cr, and 400 mass ppm for Sb. The lower limits of detection (3σ) of the present method were 0.19 mass ppm for V, 0.42 for Cr, 0.24 for Co, 0.18 for Ni, 0.066 for Ge, and 2.1 for Sb. The proposed method has been applied to several different industrial plastics. The quantitative results are in good agreement with those obtained by the AAS method and x-ray fluorescent spectrometry using the fundamental parameter calculation method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.