Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS)
Earth and planetary sciences require extensive microanalyses to quantify most common major and minor elements O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni in minerals/rocks. With O usually calculated, this is frequently done with expensive electron probe X-ray microanalyzer using a wavelength dis...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Solid Earth Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451912X22000502 |
| _version_ | 1797850471933673472 |
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| author | Yuying Chen Yi Chen Qiong Liu Xi Liu |
| author_facet | Yuying Chen Yi Chen Qiong Liu Xi Liu |
| author_sort | Yuying Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Earth and planetary sciences require extensive microanalyses to quantify most common major and minor elements O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni in minerals/rocks. With O usually calculated, this is frequently done with expensive electron probe X-ray microanalyzer using a wavelength dispersive method (WDS), and much less so with expensive ground-based scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). Both instruments are not readily accessible to many scientists though. Here we selected eight natural minerals, containing those elements to various amounts, to test the performance of an economical desktop SEM attached with an EDS consisting of just one 10 mm2 silicon drift detector (SDD). The compositions of the minerals were established by extensive electron probe X-ray microanalyses (EPMA)-WDS conducted under routine analytical conditions. They were used to evaluate the performance of the desktop SEM/SDD-EDS system. The examination shows that under modest analytical conditions it can generate accurate results for those elements, with detection limits (∼0.1 wt%) much comparable to routine WDS analyses. Therefore, economical desktop SEM/SDD-EDS system can be an affordable and widely-accessible instrument for extensive and accurate quantification of those most common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:01:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed6387904b9d4742a0a1f05277e4a234 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-912X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:01:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Solid Earth Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed6387904b9d4742a0a1f05277e4a2342023-04-08T05:13:23ZengElsevierSolid Earth Sciences2451-912X2023-03-01814967Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS)Yuying Chen0Yi Chen1Qiong Liu2Xi Liu3Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution Ministry of Education of China, Beijing, 100871, PR China; School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, PR China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR ChinaKey Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution Ministry of Education of China, Beijing, 100871, PR China; School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR ChinaKey Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution Ministry of Education of China, Beijing, 100871, PR China; School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, PR China; Corresponding author.Earth and planetary sciences require extensive microanalyses to quantify most common major and minor elements O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni in minerals/rocks. With O usually calculated, this is frequently done with expensive electron probe X-ray microanalyzer using a wavelength dispersive method (WDS), and much less so with expensive ground-based scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). Both instruments are not readily accessible to many scientists though. Here we selected eight natural minerals, containing those elements to various amounts, to test the performance of an economical desktop SEM attached with an EDS consisting of just one 10 mm2 silicon drift detector (SDD). The compositions of the minerals were established by extensive electron probe X-ray microanalyses (EPMA)-WDS conducted under routine analytical conditions. They were used to evaluate the performance of the desktop SEM/SDD-EDS system. The examination shows that under modest analytical conditions it can generate accurate results for those elements, with detection limits (∼0.1 wt%) much comparable to routine WDS analyses. Therefore, economical desktop SEM/SDD-EDS system can be an affordable and widely-accessible instrument for extensive and accurate quantification of those most common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451912X22000502Common major and minor elementsDesktop SEM/SDD-EDSEPMA-WDSMinerals and rocksSilicon drift detector |
| spellingShingle | Yuying Chen Yi Chen Qiong Liu Xi Liu Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) Solid Earth Sciences Common major and minor elements Desktop SEM/SDD-EDS EPMA-WDS Minerals and rocks Silicon drift detector |
| title | Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) |
| title_full | Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) |
| title_short | Quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals/rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy/silicon drift detector energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM/SDD-EDS) |
| title_sort | quantifying common major and minor elements in minerals rocks by economical desktop scanning electron microscopy silicon drift detector energy dispersive spectrometer sem sdd eds |
| topic | Common major and minor elements Desktop SEM/SDD-EDS EPMA-WDS Minerals and rocks Silicon drift detector |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451912X22000502 |
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