Determination of heavy metal levels in medicinal plant Hemerocallis minor Miller by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XFS) (CAT#: STEM-ST-0232-WXH)

Name: Determination of heavy metal levels in medicinal plant Hemerocallis minor Miller by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XFS)
SKU: STEM-ST-0232-WXH
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Introduction

Many plant species are applied as feedstock for producing remedies both in traditional and folk medicine. Researchers commonly focus only on the properties of some organic compounds defined in plants providing a therapeutic effect. However, the total element composition of medicinal plant remains unknown; and foremost the information about concentrations of so-called heavy metals, e.g., Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn is not available. Every plant species specifically accumulates chemical elements; many of elements can be detected in plants in considerable quantities. As to heavy metals, they are irreplaceable in organism commonly at low amounts. But if their concentrations are high enough, these elements become toxicants and cause illnesses.

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Principle Applications Procedure Materials

Principle

XRF describes the process where some high-energy radiation excites atoms by shooting out electrons from the innermost orbitals. When the atom relaxes, that is, when outer electrons fill inner shells, X-Ray fluorescence radiation is emitted.

Applications

XRF is widely used as a fast characterization tool in many analytical labs across the world, for applications as diverse as metallurgy, forensics, polymers, electronics, archaeology, environmental analysis, geology and mining.

Procedure

1. Primary X-rays knock out an electron from one of the orbitals surrounding the nucleus within an atom of the material.
2. A hole is produced in the orbital, resulting in a high energy, unstable configuration for the atom.
3. To restore equilibrium, an electron from a higher energy, outer orbital falls into the hole. Since this is a lower energy position, the excess energy is emitted in the form of fluorescent X-rays.
The energy difference between the expelled and replacement electrons is characteristic of the element atom in which the fluorescence process is occurring – thus, the energy of the emitted fluorescent X-ray is directly linked to a specific element being analyzed.