Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced an educational webinar entitled 'Rapid Screening: Analysing 75 Elements in 10 Minutes without Sample Preparation'.
The presentation discusses the complementary characteristics of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) technologies and how the two methods can be combined to produce faster and more economical elemental analysis results.
Modern elemental analysis laboratories demand precise results, but speed and efficiency are also important.
While ICP offers accurate and repeatable multi-element analysis capabilities, sample preparation procedures can be lengthy and tedious, especially when analysing non-aqueous and solid matrices.
Recently, however, XRF has emerged as a complementary technique to facilitate rapid and non-destructive screening for elemental characterisation of difficult, unknown and/or limited samples.
When used in conjunction with ICP, XRF can perform rapid quantification of the entire periodic table in totally unknown samples requiring now calibration standards.
Eric Tusseau from Thermo Fisher Scientific begins the webinar with an overview of XRF and ICP techniques, comparing and contrasting them on criteria such as solid sample preparation procedures, standardisation, interferences and cost of ownership.
Based on the advantages and disadvantages of each method, the main application areas of XRF and ICP are also outlined.
Dr Pascal Lemberge, ED-XRF applications scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific, illustrates the benefits of using XRF and ICP together in applications such as rapid determination of nutrients in milk powders using WDXRF, analysis of sewage sludge, petroleum and polymers analysis, drug and food screening and filter media analysis.
Lemberge's examples show how the two techniques combine to provide dependable, rapid and cost-effective detection of elemental concentrations.
