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Analysis of C, N and O in aerosol collected on an organic backing using internal blank measurements and variable beam size

Nguyen Ngoc, Hung LU and Martinsson, Bengt LU (2007) In Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 264(1). p.96-102
Abstract
A method with low MDL (minimum detection limit) was developed for analysis of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) in aerosol samples collected on an organic backing. An accelerator-produced beam of protons interacting with the sample and the detection of elastically scattered protons (PESA; particle elastic scattering analysis) and emitted X-rays (PIXE; particle-induced X-ray emission) were the basic components of the setup. The method is based on measurement of internal blank concentrations, i.e. measurement of the blank concentration outside the aerosol deposit in each sample, and the use of two sizes of the beam in order to improve the MDL of the analysis. Large beam size covering the entire aerosol deposit was used to obtain... (More)
A method with low MDL (minimum detection limit) was developed for analysis of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) in aerosol samples collected on an organic backing. An accelerator-produced beam of protons interacting with the sample and the detection of elastically scattered protons (PESA; particle elastic scattering analysis) and emitted X-rays (PIXE; particle-induced X-ray emission) were the basic components of the setup. The method is based on measurement of internal blank concentrations, i.e. measurement of the blank concentration outside the aerosol deposit in each sample, and the use of two sizes of the beam in order to improve the MDL of the analysis. Large beam size covering the entire aerosol deposit was used to obtain quantitative analysis with PIXE. Small beam was used to obtain relative elemental concentrations with PESA and PIXE, which were transformed to absolute values by the aid of large-beam analysis. The small-size-beam served two purposes: to make internal blank measurements feasible and to improve the signal ratio of aerosol-deposit to backing. Compared with the traditional way of analysis, using a beam that is larger than the deposit and specially prepared blank samples, the new method reduced the MDL of C, N and O by a factor of 130, 70 and 90, respectively. The new method was applied to aerosol samples collected in the upper troposphere and the lowermost stratosphere from the CARIBIC platform. As far as the authors know, these measurements are the first quantitative determinations of C, N and O in the aerosol of this part of the atmosphere. The results show that these elements together with sulfur are major components of the aerosol. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
light elements, detection limit, PESA, PIXE, aerosol
in
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
volume
264
issue
1
pages
96 - 102
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000251737300015
  • scopus:34848825768
ISSN
0168-583X
DOI
10.1016/j.nimb.2007.08.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Nuclear Physics (Faculty of Technology) (011013007)
id
89206088-27a5-47d2-be08-72b350b57e1a (old id 965816)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:24:22
date last changed
2022-02-12 21:57:24
@article{89206088-27a5-47d2-be08-72b350b57e1a,
  abstract     = {{A method with low MDL (minimum detection limit) was developed for analysis of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) in aerosol samples collected on an organic backing. An accelerator-produced beam of protons interacting with the sample and the detection of elastically scattered protons (PESA; particle elastic scattering analysis) and emitted X-rays (PIXE; particle-induced X-ray emission) were the basic components of the setup. The method is based on measurement of internal blank concentrations, i.e. measurement of the blank concentration outside the aerosol deposit in each sample, and the use of two sizes of the beam in order to improve the MDL of the analysis. Large beam size covering the entire aerosol deposit was used to obtain quantitative analysis with PIXE. Small beam was used to obtain relative elemental concentrations with PESA and PIXE, which were transformed to absolute values by the aid of large-beam analysis. The small-size-beam served two purposes: to make internal blank measurements feasible and to improve the signal ratio of aerosol-deposit to backing. Compared with the traditional way of analysis, using a beam that is larger than the deposit and specially prepared blank samples, the new method reduced the MDL of C, N and O by a factor of 130, 70 and 90, respectively. The new method was applied to aerosol samples collected in the upper troposphere and the lowermost stratosphere from the CARIBIC platform. As far as the authors know, these measurements are the first quantitative determinations of C, N and O in the aerosol of this part of the atmosphere. The results show that these elements together with sulfur are major components of the aerosol. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Nguyen Ngoc, Hung and Martinsson, Bengt}},
  issn         = {{0168-583X}},
  keywords     = {{light elements; detection limit; PESA; PIXE; aerosol}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{96--102}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms}},
  title        = {{Analysis of C, N and O in aerosol collected on an organic backing using internal blank measurements and variable beam size}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2007.08.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.nimb.2007.08.001}},
  volume       = {{264}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}