Abstract

A Siemens SemiQuant (SSQ) 3000 program, a precalibrated 'standardless' analytical program handling up to 90 elements, was evaluated for the fast analysis of various types of reference materials using a wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Various types of standard reference materials such as metal discs, metal chips, and geological materials in powder form were analysed and it took 23 minutes of measuring time for 75 elements. Measurements of geological reference materials using different sampling methods were carried out and their data were interactively evaluated. The analysis of materials of a known matrix concentration such as stainless steels provided higher precision value compared to totally unknown samples. The analyses of materials prepared as pressed pellets or fused glass beads provided higher precision values compared to the measurement of loose powders with a foil on the sample surface and helium operation, though their sampling procedures were more complicate and took more time. Since very light elements such as boron, carbon, and oxygen have a strong influence on the matrix effects and also on the calculation of effective matrix corrections, the rhodium Compton check was applied to verify the reliability of the defined light element concentrations of light matrix materials and the defined major sample compounds. Failure of defining correct matrix resulted in an unoptimized matrix correction and therefore in the wrong calculation of the element concentration.