Determination of impurities in graphite using synchrotron radiation based X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Determination of impurities namely Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, Sr and Pb in graphite by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is described using microfocused synchrotron radiation. The internal standard and standard addition methodologies were adopted for quantification and the results were compared with tube-based X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Analysis of the results by the F and t-tests revealed their statistical equivalence. Synchrotron measurements improved the detection limits by an order of magnitude compared to the tube based technique. Cr and Zr, which were below the quantification limit in tube based technique, were also quantified by synchrotron based technique.