Topic : Development of Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence system for quantitative measurements of trace elements in solid and liquid

  

 Scope  

                        The expeditious growth of modern industry as well as the exacerbate human activities leave various harmful residues into environment, which consequently leads to serious pollutions. Understanding, screening, and fast detection of elemental compositions, and trace heavy metal contaminations in such environmental samples would be beneficial to avoid the widespread distribution and later solve the problems. In addition, the existance of trace elements in materials could alter their physicochemical properties and emerge novel characteristic features of materials aiming for such specific applications. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy is one of the potential techniques for characterization of elemental compositions. XRF requires less sample preparation and can be applied for various types of samples including solid, liquid, and slurry. In addition, XRF provides availability for fast screening and database for quality and quantity control.
                        This project aims to develop the apparatus for XRF experiments to quantify the concentrations of elements in materials. The participants will involve in the design of the automatic sample measurement system, for example a motorized multi-sample holder, a vacuum sample chamber, a user-friendly Labview-based program for the automatic data collection. The participants will join the beamline scientists to test the XRF measurement system, perform experiments, and do quantitative XRF analysis using fundamental parameter (FP) method. Over the course of the project, the participants will independently engage in a synchrotron development similar to that of beamline scientists and will have a good understanding of beamline instrumentation, control system, and XRF data analysis.

  

 Supervisor  

                        Dr. Supagorn Rugmai
                        and SLRI researchers