Qualitative and quantitative characterization of elements by X-ray fluorescence technique in mineral supplement for livestock. II. Energy dispersion

Abstract

A methodology was developed to evaluate the chemical concentration in mineral supplement for livestock samples, using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique (ED-XRF), with radioactive sources (⁵⁵Fe, ²³⁸Pu and ¹⁰⁹Cd) for the excitation and Si(Li) semiconductor for the X-rays detection. When synthetic standard samples were used, the matrix effect was observed, which was corrected by a multivariate statistical model allowing the quantitative analysis of macroelements, such as Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K and Ca, and also the light fraction (elements with atomic number lower than 13). Based on these concentrations and using fundamental parameters technique, concentration of some microelements (Mn, Fe, Co, Cu and Zn) and non-essential elements (Ti, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr and Nb) was quantified as well.