Comparative performance of INAA and other spectroscopy techniques in the elemental analysis of stainless steel materials

E. Cincu, I Manea, V. Manu, D Barbos, O Sima, I Gustavsson, Peter Vermaercke, N Vajda, Z Molnar, H Polkowska-Motrenko, Liesel Sneyers

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    Samples of high alloy Stainless Steel SS 1 were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) at 5 research institutes in 4 European countries within the frame of an Inter-Laboratory Comparison (ILC) exercise aiming at checking if the results were independent of the standardization methods, and if INAA was accurate enough to contribute to certification. The mean element concentration values yielded by INAA were also compared with mean values obtained by atomic emission spectroscopy techniques at other laboratories that took part in the International Proficiency Testing organized by KIMAB Institute of Sweden, producer of the SS 1. The performances of the nuclear and atomic techniques were compared in terms of the z-score values calculated for 11 element concentrations evaluated by the two analytical ways. Finally, consideration is given to the ways in which highest accuracy and precision can be ensured for certifying stainless steels as CRMs.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)199-205
    JournalJournal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
    Volume274
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 2007

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