Screening of uranium contamination on waste surfaces using X-ray fluorescence analysis

Determination of trace levels of uranium in waste solutions by energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence following adsorption on graphene oxide

“…In our previous study, 27 this method succeeded in deconvolving the slight U Lα peak present at the tail of a highly intense Br Kβ peak. We have not investigated in detail the interval between peaks that can be deconvolved using this method.…”

“…For the samples obtained using the 3% solution, measurements were also recorded for 300 s to ensure the suitability of this accumulation time (Figure 7a). Using the fitting results, the MDL for a target element can be calculated using the following equation 19–21,27–29 : where I net is the net intensity of the target element (cps), I BG is the background intensity in the same energy region (cps), c is the concentration of the target element (ng ml −1 ), and t is the measurement time (s). Based on the maximum value of the six MDLs obtained from the six data sets, the highest MDL was recorded, and subsequently, the variability of the peak fitting was accounted for to obtain the actual MDL as 0.37 ng ml −1 .…”

“…The basic strategy employed for peak fitting using multiple Gaussian functions was described in our previous studies. 19,27 Each Gaussian function has three parameters: the peak central energy, width, and intensity. The peak central energy can be fixed at previously reported values.…”

“…To clarify the characteristics of these peaks, a sample containing each individual element was prepared. According to our previous studies, 19,27 a bromine solution (10 μl) having a concentration of 100 μg ml À1 was dropped onto a 220 μm-thick filter paper (No. 5A, Toyo Roshi Kaisha, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) that was cut to a diameter of 5.5 mm.…”

“…XRF measurements were conducted using an Epsilon 4 spectrometer (Malvern PANalytical Ltd., Almelo, Netherlands). This instrument was also used in our previous studies, 27,28 and further details regarding the instruments can be found in those reports. For the purpose of these measurements, incident X-rays from the silver anode X-ray tube were directed diagonally below the sample, and the uniformity of the incident X-ray intensity was increased by rotating the sample.…”