The calibration of XRF polyethylene reference materials with k0-NAA and ICP-AES

Due to the lack of commercially available polyethylene reference materials for the calibration of X-ray fluorescence spectrometers (XRF), DSM Resolve, in cooperation with PANalytical, prepared and calibrated such a set of standards in 2005. The reference materials were prepared based on the addition of additives to virgin polyethylene. The mentioned additives are added to improve the performance of the polymers. The elements present in additives are tracers for the used additives.The reference materials contain the following elements: F, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Ti and Zn in the concentration range of 5 mg/kg for Ti, up to 600 mg/kg for Mg.The calibration of the reference materials, including a blank, was performed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Neutron Activation Analysis (k0-NAA). ICP-AES was used to determine the elements Na, Mg, Al, P, Ca, Ti and Zn whereas k0-NAA was used for F, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Ti and Zn. Over the complete concentration range, a good agreement of the results was found between the both techniques. This project has shown that within DSM Resolve, it is possible to develop and to calibrate homogenous reference materials for XRF.