Standard deviations of the error effects in preparing pellet samples for WDXRF spectroscopy

Sample preparation is the source of the largest errors in X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. It is well known that improper sample preparation can cause errors greater than 100% during an analysis. However, if one examines the literature, one often finds that details on how a sample was prepared are often omitted with XRF. This paper is aimed to test on XRF data the measurement of intensity and concentration to investigate the variations in parameters of press pressure, particle size, mixture time, manual effect and spectrometry sensitivity. As a sample, Portland compoze cement product is used. Our assessments are carried out considering seven different elements and its compounds. Finally, the results on XRF data are interpreted.