In this example, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (EDX) is used to analyze the elements in ink.
Liquids, such as ink, are placed in a liquid sample cell; the entire cell is then measured in a helium atmosphere. A thin film of polymer that has low X-ray absorbance (such as polypropylene) is used across the measurement surface of the sample cell.
To quantitatively analyze the ink, the compositional formula of the primary component must be entered as a balance. In this example, the compositional formula was specified as H2O.
To prevent the measurement from being affected by sample quantity, the cell was filled to a depth of about 10 mm. A small diameter sample cell is also available for smaller quantities of samples.
The RhLa emitted from the X-ray tube that has an Rh target overlaps with Cl. Therefore, Cl was measured using separate parameters than for Na-Sc, by using an Al filter to filter out the RhLα peak.
Qualitative-Quantitative Analysis of Ink
