Abstract
Determination of the elemental composition of soft biological tissue is a time-consuming and tedious process when using traditional analytical techniques. In this method, micro X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) via Itrax, a scanning instrument, was used to determine elemental abundance at a resolution of 200?µm. Itrax µXRF was initially designed for elemental profiling of geological cores, and the capability of this technique was extended to soft biological tissue samples. The samples were dried and ground into a fine powder before analysis. The scanner generates elemental values as counts per 1?mm and these values are standardised to obtain the relative elemental abundance of the elements present in the samples. The acquired data can be used for environmental and biological research.•No literature could be found whereby the capability of Itrax µXRF has been extended to soft biological tissue samples.•The major advantages Itrax has over conventional methods is that it is a simultaneous technique which allows data to be acquired for over 30 elements at once with minimal sample preparation.•It is a non-destructive process where the samples can be re-used for additional analyses if necessary; this is especially useful when there is only a limited amount of sample available for other analyses.
Highlights
The methods used in these studies were: inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Atomic emission spectrometry and Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES)
Using Itrax micro X-ray fluorescence (mXRF) has several advantages over the conventional methods; it requires minimal sample preparation and it is non-destructive allowing the sample to be used for additional analyses
The consistent use of mXRF for geological studies show that the method is reliable and accurate for determining the relative elemental abundance of samples
Summary
Patricia Gadda, Karthik Gopib, Jesmond Sammutb, Neil Saintilanc, Jagoda Crawforda, Debashish Mazumdera,* a Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW, 2232, Australia b Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney 2052, Australia c Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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