13th June 2018 Report

BCA Industrial Group XRF meeting - Sheffield Hallam University - 13^th June 2018.

The annual X-Ray Fluorescence meeting took place at Sheffield Hallam University. The new venue helped to attract 90 delegates (picture above), almost twice the number who attended in 2017.

There was a change in the programme for this meeting compared to previous years. There were two parallel sessions in the morning, one for experienced users and one for beginners. The session for beginners was very well attended and provided a useful training opportunity for PhD students.

The meeting was well supported by representatives of 13 different companies. After the parallel sessions we then had the usual Sponsor Slot where these 13 companies were able to give short talks to publicise their latest developments.

After lunch everyone came together for the afternoon session. Of particular interest was a talk by Dr. Tom Knott (University of Leicester) on how XRF was used to study the after effects of volcanic eruptions. The meeting was ended by a talk from Dr. Karen Vernon-Parry (Sheffield Hallam University) describing her public outreach work using a hand-held XRF spectrometer for analysis of counterfeit coins.

Dr. David Beveridge (Harmon Technology) came to the end of his term as chair of the BCA IG XRF committee so Dr. Tony Bell (Sheffield Hallam University) was elected as the new chair.

Five student delegates have written meeting reports:-

Alex Borrill (Warwick University). I attended the session for experienced XRF users, I found it to be informative and a good reminder of a lot of the theory and principles that are essential but that you don’t consider on a daily basis. Several of the talks went through how particular parts of XRF have been developed or improved, such as detectors and methods to allow several labs to have comparable data. Although I do not consider myself to be a very advanced user of XRF I had already come across almost all of the concepts and points brought up during the morning session, I was expecting it to be a bit more advanced than it was. I particularly enjoyed the plenary session given by Dr Tom Knott, it demonstrated how both handheld and lab based XRF systems have their place in geological research as well as fascinating insights into his recent research in volcanoes. It was interesting to hear his account of his journey from a beginner to an experienced XRF user and some of the issues that can arise when comparing data taken in different places (other labs or in the field). Another interesting talk was presented by Karen Vernon-Parry who uses handheld XRF for outreach projects, she talked about how it has enabled her to run successful sessions in identifying counterfeit coins, it’s a great example of analytical science that has been made accessible and will hopefully spark interest in the fields of science and engineering.

During the coffee and lunch breaks there were plenty of companies present to talk to, I learned about several new companies, suppliers and products that I was previously unaware of because of these breaks and the flash presentation session. I was able to make connections and discuss ideas and methods with more experienced people which was beneficial. Overall I found the conference to be a very useful experience.

Lygia Silva de Moraes (University of Strathclyde).This X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry meeting occurred on 13^th June 2018 at Sheffield Hallam University. As a novice user I did not have a solid background in X-Ray Fluorescence, so I decided to attend in the morning Session 1, Introduction to XRF for Beginners. The session was chaired by David Beveridge and started with a very enthusiastic introduction to X-Ray Fluorescence theory and use of statistics in XRF ministered by Nick Marsh. The presenter of the second talk in this session, John Martin, described the advantages and disadvantages between different techniques in XRF. It was interesting to observe those different techniques that can be chosen to optimize the experiment according to the target elements. The third talk of this session described the best techniques to prepare and mount the samples to make XRF spectrometry measurements were ministered from Rainer Schramm. The last presentation in this session was a description of the applications using XRF in primary industries, manufacturing, regulatory, research and waste. The last presentation was ministered by Phil Russell.

There were very interesting talks in the Plenary Session. The first talk, by Tom Knott, showed an overview about his research analysing composition of geological materials. Two of my favourite talks were in the end of the session, where Chris Vanhoof showed applications of Micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (µ-XRF) in point analysis and imaging. The most interesting part of this talk was µ-XRF spectrometry being able to trace elements in the surface of the material, which can be useful in my research mapping the composition of the surface of crystal structures. Also, the last talk ministered by Karen Vernon-Parry show how XRF can be applied to analyse the high presence of Pb and Al in the composition of counterfeit old one-pound coins.

In summary, the conference was successful offering two parallel sessions in the morning for beginners and experienced XRF users. The talks in the Plenary Session shown XRF spectrometry as an important tool to analytical research and industry.

Nicole Reily (Warwick University).The XRF users meeting was a very useful and interesting day. Despite using XRF the research group is not very familiar with the technique and it was a useful opportunity to talk to people who use and develop XRF technology regularly. The broad range of applications for XRF in industry, regulations, research and public engagement is extraordinary. Even within research the variation of samples, from bulk geological samples to mapping analysis of brain tissue, shows the diversity of the technique. The range of products at the conference shows the ongoing development of the technique and associated sample preparation. Often analytical techniques feel like mysterious boxes that output a number. The introduction to XRF for beginners provided a clear introduction as to how this technology works and how to ensure you utilise it effectively. Be this by trying different XRF devices or the importance of sample preparation to ensure efficient analysis. I particularly enjoyed the talk by Dr. Tom Knott about the use of XRF in the geological laboratory. Having a fast and reliable method to confirm composition of strata as one super volcanic eruption on site saves a lot of sample processing and uncertainty before samples can be analysed.

Gloria Wie-Addo (Sheffield Hallam University).This year’s XRF meeting which was located at Sheffield Hallam University on the 13^th of June 2018 was well planned out in my opinion especially for the beginner’s sessions of which I enrolled in.

As a user of the XRF at my department at SHU, I believe the selected modules: the theoretical introduction, different approaches to XRF, Sample preparation and applications were very nicely arrayed for the novice. For example, the session held by Nick Marsh was so helpful but he had to rush through his presentation because of time constraints. These sessions gave me a great insight into the technique with its varying sample preparations and factors that affect the analysis which were related to my own studies.

The meeting also brought to our doorsteps the best companies whose products are constantly helping in the technique as well as having discussions and learning of their newest brands at the market.

Overall, the meeting was very satisfactory for both learners and companies who displayed their products to create awareness to XRF users.

My sincere thanks go to the organisers for this year’s meeting and granting me the opportunity to be a part of the programme.

Prince Rautiyal (Sheffield Hallam University). The meeting took place at Sheffield Hallam University this year and a huge number of delegates from academia and industry attended. The meeting was opened with a small plenary introduction about the agenda and the university by local host and organizer Dr. Anthony Bell. This followed by two parallel sessions - one for the beginners and the other for the experienced XRF users.

The beginner's session was chaired by David Beveridge from Harman Technology. Mr. Nick Marsh from University of Leicester talked about the "Theoretical introduction to XRF". I found this talk the most interesting talk from a beginner's point of view. The other interesting talk in the session was given by Dr. Rainer Schramm from FLUXANA GmbH & Co. KG. He discussed the importance of sample preparation for the best results and for reducing the analytical errors. He also pointed out that considerations of sample depth and surface area are crucial while preparing sample and can have a greater impact on the results.

There was a sponsor slot kept for all the sponsor partners to pitch their innovative ideas and inventions of XRF analytical tools. This session was organized by Nick Marsh and assisted by Tom Knott from University of Leicester. Each industrial sponsor partner was given three minutes to pitch their products and technology. It was a rigorous exercise but turned out to be a more fun and audience engaging activity.

After the lunch Tom Knott gave a very interesting talk about the use of XRF in geological laboratory. He discussed how XRF has been the first choice for years for geoscientists to analyse the chemical compositions of rocks which gave some very interesting geological research answers and still helping the fraternity.

Finally, in the last session Karen Vernon-Parry from Sheffield Hallam University delivered a talk about how hand-held XRF analysis can give on-site real time confirmation of counterfeit coins. Karen is been involved in this work for over five years.

A.M.T.Bell (Sheffield Hallam University)