Chemical Analysis

A wide variety of chemical analyses are offered.  Samples which can be taken into solution for example in nitric acid are analysed by ICP-MS or ICP-OES. Analysis of various materials by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) can also be arranged.  XRF is often more appropriate for many geological materials where total elemental analysis is required, such as many rocks and soils.  These types of sample are often difficult to take in solution in a matrix suitable for analysis by ICP, so XRF analysis is more appropriate when it is important to know true total elemental concentrations.

Typical examples include analyses for various trace elements such as in a 2 molar nitric acid extract analysed by ICP and reported in milligrams per kilogram (i.e. parts per million (ppm)), or elements reported as weight percent major oxides by XRF analysis.