This lesson focuses on the role of rhodium in XRF spectroscopy, specifically its presence as a target material in an x-ray tube used for pigment analysis. Understanding rhodium’s spectral characteristics is crucial to correctly interpreting the spectra of a system using this element as the target material and avoiding misidentification of elements during analysis.
Objectives
- Recognize the role of rhodium as a target material in x-ray tubes.
Materials
- High-density polyethylene (HDPE) plate
- Pure rhodium sample
- X-ray tube with adjustable filter settings
Lesson Plan
- Introduction to Rhodium in XRF Systems
- Explain why rhodium is chosen as the target material in x-ray tubes for pigment analysis.
- Discuss the advantage of using rhodium to avoid interference with elements commonly found in pigments.
- Sample Analysis
- Measure the spectra of an HDPE plate and a pure rhodium sample with three different filter setups: no filter, low keV filter, and routine filter.
